To Love-Ru: The Fight for Love
by drastorm3r
Summary: The Earth, potential battleground for a blossoming second Galactic War. Rito has won his battle for the right to love Lala, but now the fight to make a better universe for her is on! Shady organizations with Earth in their cross-hairs, a mysterious enemy who is much more than they seem, and the most shocking reveal are yet to come for Rito and Lala. Sequel to To Love-Ru:I Struggle
1. Three Faces Prologue:Brand New Beginning

**_A/N Edit: I should mention that this story is the sequel to my previous story, To Love-Ru: I Struggle, and it's recommended to read that first, to understand where this story begins. Thanks, and sorry for those who thought I was posting a new chapter!_**

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own To Love-Ru.**_

 _ **To Love-Ru: The Fight for Love**_  
 _ **Chapter 1.0**_  
 _ **The Prologue**_

 _Earth,_  
 _Some Years from Now_

"Mama!" the young, Pink-haired girl sitting in her mother's lap shouts in disbelief as her mother stops her story, "It can't end there, what happened to Daddy next?" The older woman laughs, a sound like chiming bells, before tickling her squirming child who laid tucked under her covers. The eight year old child laughed as she was attacked by her mother, wriggling out of her reach until she broke out of her bedding, her tail whipping around in spasms with her laughter. The girl jumps out of her bed to escape her tormentor, with her mother running after her to get her to stop.

"Ichigo, get back here!" Lala Satalin Deviluke-Yuuki states, her ethereal beauty having matured as she grew into her figure, now a thirty year-old woman who looked like she was still in her early twenties, "Stop, before you hurt yourself!" It took a moment for the young woman, with her hair flowing down in waves to reach her lower back, to chase after her daughter once she ditched her heels to chase after her energetic youngster. 'Was I this much trouble for Zastin at this age?' she asks herself, as she sees her giggling daughter duck into the only other room on the ship she knew she could easily find, "Ichigo, don't bug your cousin; what happened to you being tired~!" An exasperated Lala sighs as she knocks on her niece's door. "Uwe, it's me, your favorite~ Aunt in the whole, wide galaxy~!" she calls cheerily yet her tiredness and exasperation leaks into it, whistling innocently as she waits for her pre-teen niece's permission to enter her room, "A fugitive from bedtime seems to have taken refuge in your room; may I please be allowed inside to carry out the hit on my target?" Hearing giggling from inside the room, Lala patiently waited outside the door until it opened up to reveal an eleven year old with long, lime-green hair, an innocent smile on her face, and a twirling spade tail that curled innocently in shapes like a pretzel.

"Why, Aunt Lala, what brings you to the humble dormitory of the fifth royal Princess of Deviluke, me, Uwe?" Uwe states semi-cheekily to her aunt, the queen, "I didn't know you were a part-time bounty hunter, I thought you left that to auntie Eve?" Lala put a hand to her cheek, mimic deep thought, before returning her view to her niece with a smile.

"I promise to let you spend time with your aunt Celine and Mikan in the Junior Justice Division, maybe even give you your own personalized All~Mighty Tool," she offers to her niece like a carrot on a string, "I'll even make it ~sparkle~" At that, it was as if a gleam of light was reflected from Uwe's eyes, a sharp smirk now gracing the young girl's face.

"Why didn't you say so sooner Aunt Yuuki, I would have let you in ~ _ages_ ~ ago," she states excitedly, as she makes a grand sweeping gesture to invite her in, "I won't stop you, though I believe I should make you aware that Ichigo had made a convincing counter-offer about a sleep-over that almost swayed me to her side; don't tell her you bribed me with my own A.T., okay?" Lala smiles as the semi-transparent train of her nightgown trails in behind her like a glittering night sky.

" _Noooooo_ ~ Uwe, I thought you were on my side!" Ichigo playfully whines, as she peeks out from under her older cousin's covers, knowing Lala was not fooled a bit, "I even promised you to get you into Mama's lab if you let me stay for a sleep over!" Lala raises an eyebrow at that, while Uwe merely chuckles and shrugs her shoulders. Lala merely shakes her head and sighs, before grabbing her daughter from under the covers and moving so she was able to sit on the bed next to her.

"Fine, I won't stop a sleep over, but you better get some pillows if you want to get comfortable," Lala informs her niece and daughter, "I wasn't done with my story before this little delinquent ran off, so I expect you both to stay and listen to me finish my story!" Both girls' eyes widened, before they ran off to grab whatever pillows and blankets they could get to snuggle up and make themselves cozy. By the time they had gotten comfy, Uwe had set up a makeshift bed of pillows and blankets on the floor, while Lala and Ichigo had selfishly taken up her own bed, sprawled across the mattress, with Lala stroking her daughters short, pink hair in her lap. "Now, let's see, where was I..." she stated teasingly, with a confused look as if she had truly forgotten, "Oh, yes, that's right; my beloved husband had just gotten a message from my Papa..."

 _ **OoOoOoOoO**_

 _Earth,_  
 _Now_

Rito stared at the floating crystal which held vital information sent by King Gid himself, sensitive information he was told to view alone. "So let me tell you about what's going on, and why Earth is in the cross hairs to play center stage for an all new Galactic War..." the message had just relayed to him in the King's voice, "A new power play has been happening under my nose while I was busy with the wedding; though its steady growth has been occurring for a little more than a year now, it spilled over into becoming an immediate problem for me, for you, and for the entire universe." He could tell by the King's tone that this was a serious matter. "A dangerous man I had locked away within the Castle's dungeons; a scientist that had been hired over thirty years ago by a volatile terrorist group that favored anarchy and chaos, Eden, has been forcibly released by one of the surviving splinter cells," Gid states over the prerecorded message, purple crystal floating just over the ornate bottle, "You have run into their goons before in the form of an organization named Solgam, which had started off as a simple black market group, it has now grown into a thorn in my side when a man who has come to be known only by his title as 'Boss' began to organize them into something more." Rito gulped as the recording continues.

"The GPD and my sources in the black market now both corroborate Solgam's current goal when the Doctor is involved," Gid continues, "The Doctor, as his moniker suggests, had experimented on people in the past: enhancements, upgrades, you name it; having came into Eden's employ as a young student with low morals, you've since become familiar with one of the final projects he worked on before the end of the last great galactic war and the scattering of Eden's might into, what I had assumed was, oblivion." Rito doesn't know what Gid was talking about, until his mind flashed with the thought of Golden Darkness and the day she had explained her origins to him. "Golden Darkness, along with Professor Tearju Lunatique, and the ones you know as Mea, and Nemesis, were all a part of Project:EDEN, an unknown goal held by the organization of its namesake, which we had assumed had been stymied upon its destruction," King Deviluke continues to report, "Unfortunately it seems that before his capture, the Doctor had an unknown last resort hidden away: The Anarchists Beryl, an attempt by the reckless scientist utilizing his knowledge of nanotechnology to replicate the abilities of the Taoist Pearls."

Rito took note that someone had attempted to copy the pearls, knowing full well that the way they were formed was lost millennium ago. "While it was assumed he had failed in properly replicating the technology, the GPD and chatter in the underworld has stated that Solgam has been combing the burnt out husks of former Eden bases, and a few secret bases we hadn't been aware of, in hopes of gaining access to data regarding the supposed gem's whereabouts," Gid speaks, as Rito nods along, "This has forced me to turn to you and your friends in a hopes of getting someone to it before Solgam gets its hands on it, and as we have Golden Darkness and the infamous Black on retainer now, I've managed to get them both to get a group together in hopes of tracking down this imitation fabrication in hopes of smoking out the Doctor in the process."

Rito waits for the King to continue, but he seems to switch gears. "Unfortunately it has also come to my attention that Solgam has spread out across the universe while planting sleeper cells of itself within a numerable amount of less traveled, or recognized, planets that Deviluke as a whole has ignored; now I realize, to our detriment," Gid makes clear, "Among them appears Earth, as an unaffiliated planet with a large extraterrestrial population of refugees and glorified tourists." The King pauses in the recording, before resuming with gravitas. "An unfortunate realization, as your own marriage to my Daughter has brought Earth into the GPD's eye as potential problem," Gid states, his tone becoming something that nearly bordered on 'caring', "If things do not happen quickly to end Solgam's threat, your planet along with a list of others will be quarantined and forcibly isolated to prevent another Great Galactic War." Rito freezes thinking the worst at that, of his friends and family both aliens and not, that call Earth home. If it was isolated from the galactic community, either the aliens would be forced to evacuate, or face being stuck on a rock for the rest of their foreseeable lives. Ren, Run, Kyouko, Mikado, Lala, Nana, Momo, Peke, and even Celine, would either have to uproot their lives and return to wherever they came from, or stay and become exiles with the rest of the planet.

"I know this is not an easy decision to make Rito, nor should it be taken lightly, but there is one way to surely prevent the forced isolation," Gid states, surprising Rito, who perks up expectantly, "The GPD will not be forced to do anything until your official marriage to my daughter, Lala, and as you have stated not wanting to make it official until you complete your schooling, I have managed to make a bargain with the head of the GPD." Rito swallows as he listens to Gid expectantly, hoping the King had somethng in the works to save them from this fate. "The GPD will not make a move for exactly nine months, as I managed to convince them to give you a little bit of extra time if you manage to isolate the Solgam cell on your planet, while we deal with the Doctor and the 'Boss', by then you will be allowed to continue living on Earth," Gid announces, "Or upon your failure, you will be forcibly relocated to Deviluke with Lala; your family would be welcomed of course, but little else could be done for your human friends, with GPD forcing restrictions." He grows crestfallen at that, but also understands that the continuation of the Deviluke line was more important than one planet. "So I give you one of two choices Rito Yuuki," Gid states, "Expose the Solgam cell on Earth, reveal their existence to the humans living on your planet, or do the one thing that no one would expect: conquer Earth with Lala's help, crush the Solgam cell, and reveal your position as prince-consort to the Devil Star Princess, my daughter, Lala." Rito blinks at Gid's enthusiasm, as the message ends with the crystal returning to its base, dropping the ornate bottle to the ground like the dead stone it was.

Rito had been given all of his options. The question now would be, which one would he choose?

 **A/N: The beginning of a brand new story by me! Check out my other story, 'To Love-Ru: The Stories of our Lives', every so often for an exciting story collection that will showcase the stories I wanted to tell, but felt didn't belong here. Don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review!**

 **For the readers who viewed this yesterday, you'll notice Chapter One is radically different. It's also easier to read, so what can I say except, You're welcome!**


	2. The Escapee from Deviluke

_**Disclaimer: I do not own To Love-Ru**_

 _ **To Love-Ru: The Fight for Love**_  
 _ **Chapter 2.0**_  
 _ **The Escape**_

 _Earth,_  
 _One Year Ago_

If you had time traveled into his past. when he was a young, radical, free-thinker bent on overturning the oppressive government restrictions they taxed scientists with, and told him he was one day going to fail, he would have laughed. He wouldn't believe that he would get taken out with three other heavily armed, dangerous men, by the Princess of said government and get taken to jail to boot by some two-bit space police force. His past self would have laughed at the prospect, still full of himself after graduating his colleges with doctorates in organic chemistry, a minor in xeno-archeology, and a major grudge against an empire that wouldn't fund his experiments. A bright eyed youth with dreams of helping people regain lost limbs through organic transformation and enhancement of the body, and a minor in history of its use in ancient cultures, specifically the collective group now known by the misnomer 'Taoists'.

And yet here he was on a backwater mud-ball called Earth, specifically a Class-S planet that wasn't even on the galactic map as being fit for the space faring races, and he was being arrested with his fellow revolutionaries for kidnapping and endangerment of lives. This just after having met, and threatened, the woman whose joint projects in her heyday had been the basis his thesis in college had earned him his degree for. Keize was not having a good day especially after being beat up by a Princess, been near the universally known assassin Golden Darkness, and losing his most important work in the form of a pair of artificially created slime growths, now ending with him carted away to prison while labeled a terrorist.

So it was his greatest pleasure when they passed within the seventh planet's weak gravitational field he was able to expel the last few bits of slime in his pocket protector without much notice. This allowed him time to drop the masses onto the handcuffs and force them to break by allowing them expand within the cuffs internal structure. Unfortunately his compatriots knew too much, and should their boss deem them salvageable components to their organization, they would rat him out as being an incompetent leader to save their own hides. That would be despite the fact he had been the last one standing, after almost achieving victory in bringing Ryouko Mikado back with them.

Three agonizingly painful minutes later of having separated and dispersed his rapidly growing slime to ensure his ' _companions_ ' would not survive long enough to give anything up about their organization; Keize quickly stole away on an escape pod, leaving his slime to wreck havoc on the Galactic Police ship with the hopes they would not return to report anything amiss. It was then a painstakingly boring three hour trip by remarkably inefficient maneuvering thrusters, back to Earth and the ship they had hid within the remarkably dense aokigahara forest.

Having successfully made it back to Earth, undetected he might add. by the Devilukean ship in orbit, he had made landfall and returned to his ship by early morning. The trek was dangerous, and quite disorienting to someone who had never been there before, but thankfully some tech was salvageable from the escape pod that made it easier to find his ship and return to its hiding place. Stumbling into his ship, tired and frankly pissed off at having been forced to do what he did, he found the communication controls and attempted to contact his boss in their mobile star base. "This is Keize to Solgam Headquarters, I repeat, this is Keize trying to contact the Boss," he relays into the ship, waiting for the real time communication to go out and establish a connection through its hidden frequency band, "Boss, this is Keize, reporting in from Earth; I have urgent news regarding the acquisition of your former chief scientist turned traitor, Ryouko Mikado." A hissing static filled his ship's view screen, before the signal was accepted and the darkened interior of Solgam's headquarters became visible in the dim light.

"I expect good news, _hmmm_ , Keize _?_ " the gruff and tired voice of his Boss replies, having personally answered the communication, "Is Doctor Mikado on her way to return to Solgam, to ensure her methods of Bio Engineering are utilized properly?" Keize bit his tongue, trying to not show his frustration to the man, yet it seemed that he could already smell the failure coming off of him through the screen. "No...? A _pity_ ," The man states, before his finger goes to hover over a button that would cut all communication to the ship and activate remote termination, "I thought you had promise, Keize, if you _failed_ in retrieving her then there is no point in _wasting_ resources now that she is aware of our..." His finger hovers dangerously over the button, his one good eye sadistically staring down Keize to drink in the look of defeat and the fear in his subordinates eyes.

" _ **Wait!**_ " Keize suddenly shouted out, causing his Boss to hesitate, a remarkable feat in and of itself, "I think... I think I know of another..." His Boss pulled his hand away from the control, giving time for Keize to wrack his memories for a name, for anything that could spare him instant death, after having escaped his capture and granting his comrades an ironically merciful end compared to termination. His eyes light up, as he thinks back to the studies and late nights reviewing his upperclassmen's published papers, and his thoughts drift to the other name oft associated with Ryouko Mikado. "I know of another, a man who worked with Doctor Mikado in the same field," Keize states, panting in fear and adrenaline as he looks up to meet his Boss' eyes, "His name... his name was... __" His boss's eyes widened in surprise as Keize states the name, before a wicked smile grows on his lips.

"Very good Keize, it seems you've staved death off _for now_ ," his Boss replied, "Return to the coordinates we will provide you for reassignment." He folds his hands and looks down upon the whimpering Keize. "Seeing as you have failed me once already, you will prepare to retrieve our friend personally," the Boss orders, "Even if it means you sacrifice your life to do so." Keize gulps, but nods in response, as communication is suddenly cut off to be replaced by galactic coordinates he is to rendezvous at with the main headquarters.

 _ **OoOoOoOoO**_

 _Deviluke,_  
 _The Black Archive_  
 ** _Days After Rito Fell into a Coma_**

To say one year ago, that Keize would be assaulting one of the most heavily fortified prisons in this or any other galaxy, to prove his worth to his Boss all to break out one inmate, he would believe you. Having discovered the location of their target at the heart of their sworn enemies home world, it became clear that an assault would be all but impossible without subterfuge and trickery, along with a years worth of careful planning to make this possible. Three weeks ago this wouldn't have been possible, but interesting developments regarding the state of Deviluke's future made it possible to send an unseen double agent into the Castle's service staff, having taken advantage of the chaos surrounding the Princess' engagement to Lacospo. It made it even easier for their spy to do his job and slip away unnoticed by all but the best, of whom promptly caught and ended him just after he had sent the necessary data that allowed Solgam to back Lacospo with this information, allowing them to utilize him as a distraction. Now Keize was in orbit of the planet in a merchant ship, along with a few dozen of his comrades in arms, dressed to the nines in assault gear and weaponry capable of taking down a Devilukean, preparing to take their arms to the ground. Figuratively speaking, of course, as they had managed to read the dimensional frequency of the pocket of reality that composed the prison, and managed to splice their own coding to create a backdoor capable of letting them enter undetected to take their prize by force, in the very heart of the facility.

"Now, you mangy dogs, you've all been proven failures in one form or another," the head of the assault says from his place above them all, "The Boss has graciously given you all the opportunity to win back your lives, prove yourselves to Solgam as being worth the resources you lost, and face down death to retrieve the target for our purposes." The soliders all nod, readying themselves for the mass transport which would be happening soon. "I've been told to inform you that not many of you will be probably making it back alive to this place, word is that after the events surrounding the failed coup by an insurgent known only by the moniker 'Creed', which ended with the Devilukean General Zastin hospitalized, that security had been increased as of two months ago," the commander states to his troops, "While the Black Archives are not officially recognized, let alone sanctioned by any known government outside of Deviluke, we don't quite know if they've increased numbers there as well."

He nods to the others, then brings up a device in his hand. "That's why along with your weapons, you've been provided with Solgam's latest analytic device, capable of breaking codes and passwords that have said to been secured systems," he states, "These will fool anything from key pads to a physical lock, they even bypass most vocal and retinal scanners with time, so survive long enough to utilize them, and you may just get out of their alive."

Keize sneered at that remark, thankfully obscured by the opaque mask of his helmet, as he watched the men march onto the relocation pad, walking into their deaths willingly. Unlike the others who would be laying siege to the prison, Keize knew that the real assault would begin with the final group, who would be transported into the heart of the facility while leaving the remaining groups as decoys to keep suspicion off of their true target. As he ascended to the relocation pad with the final group, he checked his secret weapon and assured himself that it was secure for when he needed it.

Transporting across dimensions was disorienting, but the group safely arrived at their intended destination, allowing Keize to smile upon the door and the name of the man who would make allow him to be back in the Boss' good grace. He turns to the others around him, who are starting to set up a defense perimeter, he brings out the device and presses its adhesive side over the lock, and lets it do the work for him. In a matter of seconds he can hear the sizzle of an air seal decompressing, as the door begins to open. Hearing the sound of explosions and gunfire coming closer, Keize dares to look back and see the unfortunate souls who were setting themselves up to die for a cause they believe in. Not wanting to let them down, he pulls of the grenade from his belt and smiles at the still sealed container, before pulling the pin and tossing it over to the door where his companions where set up. Hearing the clanging of metal, as the grenade bounces just in front of them, some look down at the grenade, while others look back at Keize to start to say something.

Unfortunately the resulting concussive blast that acts as a medium for delivery, activates before any words can be exchanged, splattering all of the men and the door in a coat of gelatinous substance that barely reaches back towards Keize. He takes this opportunity to walk into the targets room and seal the door behind him. Keize hears the satisfying screams and cracking of bones ring in his ears as his latest creation is fed by cannon fodder, before the door's pressure seals activate and cut them off. His gelatinous monster would coalesce now, with enough raw material to put room between him and the guards once they realized whom they were after.

He looks upon the form of the man sitting in the corner of the room, dirty and disheveled with writings on the wall and floor around him that to the untrained eye were mere scribbles, though revealed to be intense calculations and things leagues beyond Keize's own knowledge as a scientist. Unfortunately the metallic tang and stink of filth ruins the beauty, as he realizes it was all written in blood, by the look of his target's hands. "Hello there, Doctor," Keize states to the scruffy looking, bearded man in a tattered lab coat, "Solgam is in need of your work; Eden may have fallen and the Devil's revel in the ashes of our paradise, but we need your brilliance if we're to ever manage to restore the universe to its proper order." The man then looks up at Keize in fear, surprising the scientist turned solider.

"No, no, not yet, not yet!" the shell of a scientist states, backing away as Keize sees and recognizes the empty eyes of the living corpse staring up at him, giving even him a shiver of fear, "He's missing, I haven't found it yet, you can't take me now!" The man once known as the Doctor, the most feared man in two galaxies was, as Keize found him to be, missing more than a couple of screws loose. Yet he could work with that. Keize wasted no timing grabbing the man and taking pictures of the scrawling on the walls, before beginning the extraction protocols that would allow them to go back to the safety of their ship.

He would deliver to his Boss, or Keize would be no better than the evil men he had used as stepping stones to get to this place in the universe. The galaxy, no King Deviluke himself, would come to know they were no longer safe with one half of the most feared collective genius in the universe was restored. The Boss,and Solgam's, power and influence would grow unchecked once more, and a new paradise would grow upon the carcass of a choked out empire; one that would turn in on itself once the balance of power was restored to the universe.

 ** _OoOoOoOoO_**

Outside the Black Archives, a dozen soldiers fought back against a three meter tall mass of gelatinous goo, headed up by a heavily bruised, young-adult looking Gid Lucieon Deviluke. The King had shaved a few years off of his age in his battle with Creed, though not enough to diminish his ability to lead his people into battle. Finding what he was looking for as his people fired upon the mass with their weapons, it reached its tentacles out blindly flailing like massive flagellum, grabbing at anything in its reach. King Gid quickly discerned from a subtle discoloration and the constant shifting the cellular blob was making around a certain area, that the nucleus controlling it was at its center, and with that he had exactly what he needed.

Making a stand, as his men picked off its tentacles before they could touch him, he readied his body and tightened his core like a spring storing energy. In a sudden burst of speed that took his men by surprise, the king had ripped through the massive blob with his bare hands, leaving a wake of slime that quickly tried to mend itself back together. Unfortunately the king held his prize in his hands, lifting up the grossly disproportionate nucleus that was its brain. With a quick and crushing reflex, a runny purple liquid oozes from between his fingers, and the gelatinous mound quickly destabilizes into a messy pile of blue goo. The king of Deviluke shakes the gunk off of his hands, as a young lieutenant approaches him with urgency.

"Sir, reports are coming in from the rest of the facility!" he states after Gid acknowledges him, "The attackers attempted to release sections AA through FF, riots have been contained so far as most of the non-combatants stayed put, some hostage situations are still being resolved with some of the more desperate attackers, but casualties should remain minimal, or result in minor injury at the very least..." He trails off, as Gid turns his attention to the door leading into the room beyond it, where men begin cutting through the sealed off door with highly specialized equipment. "Uh, I'm afraid that we did detect two signatures slicing through the dimensional barrier," the young man reports, as Gid turns his head to stare through him silently, sending a shiver down the man's spine, "W-we did manage to discover where and h-how they had sliced their way into the facility, it appears to have been a Khameleon Worm we hadn't detected when we were infiltrated, but our anti-viral systems have been reactivated and cutoff any chance of escape for the remainder of the intruders." Gid sighs, as the young man finishes his reports, and the Devilukean solider stiffens as the King brings a hand to his forehead to rub it in frustration.

"It doesn't matter, most of these intruders are mercenaries at worst, or plain idiots at best, neither are useful since it was more than likely only one or fewer of our 'intruders' were actually aware of who or what they were after," Gid states, as he turns to observe the last of the door being cut away by his men, "The others were just distractions meant to pull our attention away from their real target, and if the dead bodies that made up that giant slime monster weren't dead giveaways, they were willing to sacrifice everything to get him out of here..." The young lieutenant cocks his head in confusion at that, until he reads the half scorched title on the doorway, letting his blood run cold as he realizes who and what was behind that door.

"Sir, you can't be serious," the young Devilukean states, as he stares beyond the now open doorway, "Letting him loose upon the galaxy is tantamount to ensuring another Great War is set aflame across the universe." Gid nods, as he walks over to the jagged hole cut through the door, stepping into the dimly lit room to observe what lay inside. Notes and calculations writ in blood, a terrible smell, and poor lighting didn't leave much of a great impression as to who once lived there, but Gid Lucieon Deviluke was not one to let appearances fool him to the otherwise. Gid walked over to the bed, the one clean spot among an utterly desecrated room, and kicked it up onto its side with one deft stroke. What was beneath it surprised him greatly, more so than he had thought it would, but he quickly ripped the picture from its place pinned beneath the bed among at least a dozen others and turned to the young lieutenant.

"I want you to take pictures of all of this, tear the room apart, then compile a report and give me it as soon as possible," Gid informs him, before turning to the others, "Go quell the rest of the rioters, then figure out who was in contact with the Doctor last; I want to know who smuggled this into what is supposed to be a highly impenetrable facility.." The others men in the room nod and disperse, while the lieutenant grabs another solider to help him. King Gid looks at the picture in his hand, crushes it, and swiftly takes his leave to send word to Earth, to his soon to be son-in-law. As he leaves the crumpled up photo behind him, the face of Rito Yuuki in an innocuous photo of him shopping with Nana and the one Trans-Weapon called Mea is shown. Though his son-in-law's face is circled in red ink, while the others are crossed out with X's. It seemed the Doctor took an interest in him, and that would not mean anything good for the human, nor for the Earth.

 **A/N: Welcome once more to the Fight for Love! Here is the actual second chapter, slightly revised and not full of (plot)holes like my original April 1st version. Strangely enough the first chapter was edited 4/2, but it didn't reflect on the story itself, so if you haven't checked out my revised chapter on, well, I don't know where you've been for the past six days, so there's that...**

 **Oooh, does the Doctor have an obsession? Is Keize a murderer? Who really is the mysterious 'Boss' of Solgam, and what are his intentions releasing chaos back into the galaxy? Will I stop asking questions? Never!**

 **Remember to favorite, follow, and/or review, as it helps my creative process. (I'll be honest guys, reviews help get my brain's juices flowing and I'm kind of stuck on Chapter 3, so a little encouragement would help but be honest, really, I take it in stride.)**

 ** _Adieu_ , my readers from 17 different countries, until I post again!**


	3. A Dog Day Afternoon

_**A/N:**_ **I do not own To Love-Ru, nor any of its characters.  
**

 _ **To Love-Ru: The Fight for Love**_  
 _ **Chapter 3.0**_  
 _ **The Delegation**_

 _Now_  
 _Yuuki Household,_  
 _Rito's Room_

Rito stares down at the now cold, dead messaging device, since it had delivered its pre-recorded message to its intended recipient. He felt like laughing right now, at the absurdity of it all, if he hadn't heard the words of Deviluke's King he would not believe it, or think of it as merely a cruel joke. Except he was just told his options, and now he was given the ability to make only one choice. It was two-edged sword, both a blessing and a curse, that Gid had granted him both foreknowledge and a choice, before the decision was no longer up to him. Rito sat on his bedside, absolutely floored by the decision thrust upon him, and he began to breathe a bit to shallowly and too fast accompanied by a ringing.

Feeling the pounding in his ears, the traitorous heartbeat of his beating faster than his breathing, despite the ice trying to crawl its way down his throat and freeze his heart in place. The edges of his vision begin to blur, everything seems to close in on him, growing disproportionate yet terrifying as all he can focus on is that damned message in a bottle. Gripping his chest and trying to catch his breath, he struggles to turn his head towards sounds coming from what he can only assume is the doorway, as a blur of pink skates at the edges of his vision.

He feels something soft, warm yet slightly damp as strings of wet hair clump and stick to his own bare chest. Feeling her cling onto him, her warmth and scent something to focus on, he clears his thoughts and falls into her embrace, slumping into her as warm tears suddenly wash down his face. Putting a hand to his cheeks, he realizes they were his own, yet he felt too calm to have been the one who was crying. "...t's okay Rito, everything is fine," Lala's voice finally reaches him, breaking him out of his stupor as he tries to focus on her, "Whatever happened, its okay now, you're fine, so let's get you ready and join everyone else downstairs for breakfast." Nodding mutely, he stumbles in his bed for the half slept in shirt he had abandoned sometime before actually falling asleep. Rito feels a shirt being pushed into his hands, and with a half-hearted smile he thanks Lala and begins to get ready.

Unknowingly to him, Mikan stood outside the door, with Lala shortly joining her after picking up the fallen Devilukean device. "What happened?" Mikan asks, worry and concern on her face as she stands by the head of the stairs, "All of a sudden he just started laughing... did you find out?" Lala shook her head, but she held up the skull-shaped recording and playback device.

"I don't know, but whatever my father relayed to him must have sent him into a panic attack; I didn't get a chance to screen it before Momo gave it to him," Lala responded, looking back to the closed door to his bedroom, "Mikan... I don't even think he was aware he was having an attack, he seemed so..." At that the loyal hair-clip slash robot spoke up from her place in the alien girl's hair.

"He appeared to be displaying a classic detachment of emotions, one of the signs associated with what humans classify as a panic attack," Peke puts out, "I'm sure Rito-dono was so focused inward on himself, he didn't even realize how his body was reacting; he brushed away a tear from his face and had looked at it with confusion while Lala-sama was trying to break him out of it." The little robot grew silent at that, but both Mikan and Lala exchanged a worried glance.

"I'm sure he will be fine now," Lala assured the younger Yuuki sibling, "When I get a chance I'll listen to the message and see what could have set him off like this, but it is better that he not be aware you saw him like this." She hands the younger sibling the bottle and points to her own room. "If you can stash that in your room for now, I'll get Rito downstairs for breakfast with the others," Lala states, "We don't want anyone else to worry if something has come up." Mikan nodded, going to tuck the item away into Lala's bedroom so that she could look it over later. Lala turns back to Rito's room and knocks on the door. "Rito?" she hesitantly asks out loud, "Are you ready for breakfast?" The door opens while she was leaning her head against it to hear anything, to both his and her own surprise, she lands in his open arms followed by a flush of red.

"I'm- I'm better," he says a little shakily, "I think everything is just hitting me now, after the past couple of months of everything being so chaotic." The Devilukean girl smiles at that, gently lay a kiss on his cheek while simultaneously entwining her fingers with his.

"But now you don't have to shoulder it alone, with you and I a team now," she states, as the edges of Rito's lips slip into the smallest ghost of a smile, "Maybe we aren't in perfect synch yet, but when we are able to tear down those alls keeping us apart, I know together we can be stronger as one..." She puts a hand to his heart, while guiding his to her own, smiling as she still is leaning in close enough to capture his lips again. Her scent was intoxicating to him, and almost erased the worries he had been feeling, but the rumbling in his stomach, followed by her own, caused them both to break away laughing. "At least we can both agree our bodies are in synch regarding one thing," she laughs, "I seem to be finding myself needing to eat more and more lately, ever since we returned, otherwise I just seem so sluggish." Rito laughs in exchange, but nods and begins to follow her down the stairs.

"Funnily enough for me it feels quite the opposite, I mean I still feel hungry, but I also feel like I could run out of my skin," Rito counters, "It's like I haven't ate at all, but I have the energy of a full meal in me without any of the satisfaction or fullness behind it." Lala cocks her head to the side in that in wonder, but ignores her thoughts as they reach the chaotic kitchen table, where haphazard seating and makeshift placements were made up to accompany everyone in the kitchen. Rito notices that his father was absent, more than likely having returned to his work after begging Mikan to bring lunch by later in exchange for missing out on breakfast, though he was grateful that his mother had calmed down and was enjoying a cup of what looked to be bitter coffee. How his mother had gotten hooked to the stuff while overseas was another story, but it ensured they always had a bag of the ground beans stuffed far back in some cupboard for the rare visits they had from her.

"Ah, finally awake after all that cuddling last night?" his mother teases, though he isn't as surprised by it as he was a few minutes ago, "Ah, so you aren't denying it, I see, fuhuhu..." The scandalized look his mother was giving caused him to sigh, as did Mikan, who had found her way back into the kitchen and was delivering a plate of food to both Lala and Rito.

"You better not have been doing any thing perverted to aneue, Rito!" Nana blushes as she stutters out another word, "Like k-k-kissing!" Lala just sticks out her tongue at her younger sister, while Momo shoulders up next to Nana with a wriggle of her eyebrows.

"My, they do have to have something to save for after the wedding," she states a little too suggestively, "I mean, they say the first time is always special, but since I'm sure our dear sister isn't as 'pure' and naive as we were led to believe, I'm sure she's already done 'it' with Rito by now..." Rito choked on his food, while Mikan and Nana coughed on their miso, while Lala blushed furiously at Momo's suggestiveness. "What?" Momo states innocently. "Haven't you already kissed before?" They let that slide, but Mikan notices the smirk doesn't leave the youngest Devilukean sister's face, knowing full well the double standard her words carried.

Rito returns his attention back to the table as his stomach reminds him that he was busy. With a halfhearted smile he turns his attention back to eating his food, just as Lala takes out her special dark matter seasoning and drowns some of her food in the heavy substance; oddly enough Rito partakes of a little bit of the exotic material and uses it to season some rice before finishing it off. They return to a joking and light hearted manner, the incident of not too long ago forgotten.

 **OoOoOoOoOoO**

"Ok, we're off!" Rito calls back into the house, as he shuffles outside behind Ringo, Celine, Peke, and Nana. The Yuuki matron had unfortunately needed to leave for a trip to Milan, where she would be helping recruiting models for a fashion agency there, and Celine had really wished to see off the grandmotherly Ringo, with Nana volunteering to watch her with Peke's help. Momo had said goodbye but had planned to help Mikan make lunch as well as plan dinner upon their return, offering to go and gather up groceries that had been depleted the night before when everyone had come over to congratulate the engagement of Rito and Lala. That left Lala, who had changed into actual clothes with Peke's departure, with the younger Yuuki sibling helping her wash up from breakfast.

"I have everything down here now," Mikan states while loading the last of the dishes into the machine, looking over to Lala who was draining the soapy water, "Go up and see what freaked Rito out; when Momo gets back she and I can handle lunch just fine by ourselves." Lala nodded, hanging up the apron that Mikan had let her borrow to keep any stray splashes or suds from dirtying her clothes, and hung it over a spare chair to let it dry out. The Devil Star princess left the kitchen in a hurried pace, ascending the stairs quickly while practically leaping over the banister. Teleporting into the pocket of compressed space that her younger sisters had used their technology to create their residency within the attic of the Yuuki house, Lala found the bottle sitting nearby.

Mikan obviously hadn't had much time to hide the message device, but her sisters had seemingly left it alone upon realizing it was the same one delivered to Rito. Thankful for her sisters not invading her or Rito's privacy, though she would be a bit guilty of that in this instance, whatever it was that her Father ad said was critical for her to hear with as adverse reaction he seemed to have had to it. Twisting the hollow looking skull and touching the crystal activator, the message began to playback once more for her crackling to life.

"I thought I raised you better than this, dear daughter," the gruff voice of her father states, much to her surprise, "I'm afraid this message was specially encoded to my dear son-in-law's fingerprints, and made specifically to be tamper-proof or prescreened by you or my other errant daughters; not that Nana would care, but you and Momo are much too like your mother to leave these matters between us men." He chuckles, something more surprising for her to hear as he was admonishing her over a pre recorded message, but it becomes clearer. "Knowing this I recorded a separate message specifically for you, Lala, as I know you'd just bug Zastin or someone else later on," King Gid continues, "That, and your mother gave me quite an earful about 'trusting' you with matters than concern the both of you..." She hears him sigh, and she can imagine the annoyed look crossing his face as he rubs his brow, a sign he was somewhat at a loss for words on how to continue.

"Look, here's the deal, I gave Rito an ultimatum because the Galactic Police are treading on my tail, trying to get me to consider some B-rank mercenary group as an actual threat to the stability of the Deviluke Empire, something Sol Game, or whatever.." Lala's eyes widen, remembering an event last year that resulted in her friends being kidnapped and threatened in exchange for Mikado Sensei's cooperation with Solgam, a credible threat at the time, "They want me to either cut off contact with planets we suspect active cell's are on, or otherwise eradicate them myself, or they'll begin altering planet's ranking and classifications." The eldest princess of Deviluke is shocked by that, as altering planet's ranks were not a trivial matter, and could impact their standing among the both the Empire, and the universe at large. "The GPD plan on making them no-fly zones, or enforcing isolation on those who don't cooperate, forcing them to take action in rooting out the problem," Gid continues, "So I gave your 'darling' Rito the same choice I've been given: he must either root out the problem and expose the terrorist cell on Earth within nine months, or failing that, return to Deviluke with you and those you bring with you when the GPD enforces the removal of all extraterrestrial life from, and isolation of Earth."

Lala feels ice in her stomach as it does a flip in surprise. No wonder Rito had a panic attack,being given such blunt instruction from her father like that. "Hey, don't give me that look, I'm going to tell her!" Lala blinks, as she realizes that her father is not referring to her, since he couldn't have seen her reaction, "Sorry, your mother is giving me a look that says I won't be sharing her bed for a couple of days at least... ehem, I mean, I was about to tell you more!" Lala lets her head fall to the side, comical sigh leaving her mouth as she imagines her mother pouting at him. "The method you can remove Sol Game can vary: you could outright attack them and conquer the Earth, or you can reveal our presence to more than just the local area, reveal Rito as the next king, or even go about it any other way you can think up," Gid states, as Lala hears something like whispering barely come over the message, "Oh yes, and don;t forget dear, you also have that ring of yours on your finger to use; I'm sure you can utilize whatever resources make up that wedding gift of yours to carry this out, even a planet like Earth can be bought, you know!" Lala blinks at that, bringing her hand up to her eyes, and staring at the twin stones that symbolize her union with Rito. She had forgotten that she had the whole riches of one of the most wealthiest empires at their disposal now. "Good luck kiddo," Gid says with a final note, "I hope that whatever it is that you do, make Deviluke proud (and conquer that mudball- *ooff*)!"

With that the recording cuts out, and the message ends. No doubt her mother had elbowed father for that comment under his breath, especially since she was probably rooting for her to make peace with Earth, being a diplomat and everything. Lala herself didn't know which path would be the best to take, surely she could go wither the path of peace or war, since she had been trained in both since she was born, though she did miss one or two lessons from Zastin, she was a princess born in a time of both. She, though, did not have to make this choice alone, nor would he, for they together could burden what they could not alone. If they put their heads together, with her knowledge running an empire and Rito's knowledge of Earth, together they could prevent Earth being cast aside and keep Solgam from proving themselves to be the threat they thought they were.

 **OoOoOoOoO**

 _Earlier_

"We're off!" Rito calls out as he closes the door behind him, Lala waving him off from the kitchen, apron draped over her chest and waist. He smiles as he locks the door, happy that despite the craziness of the past week, she could be so calm and collected despite everything. Not even an hour ago he had been given a bit of a shock, he didn't handle it well of course, but being forced to make a choice for all of humanity when he had neither the power or influence to back it up, seemed impossible. He would be laughed out of town if people around Sainan ever caught wind of it, all respect for him as a person would more than likely become non-existent as well. Sighing as he walked out to the waiting car in front of his house, he puts the final suitcase into the trunk and closes it.

His mother had already called a cab to take her to the airport, but not wanting to send her off alone, he himself, Nana, and Celine had volunteered to go with her, with Peke tagging along in disguise as a barrette to keep an eye on Celine so she didn't wander off.. Rito slides in next to Celine, ruffling her hair, while avoiding Peke, as she giggles in response. Seeing off his mother was tedious so early in the morning, but thankfully it was a weekend and school wasn't an issue, so it was nice to actually accompany her to the airport to help make sure nothing was lost in transition. His mother was a famous designer and manager to various models under her employ, so she occasionally brought work home with her that made it vital to ensure everything made it onto the return trip. Sighing as the taxi left his neighborhood and traveled into the city proper, he watched people go about their daily lives on the weekend as the car passed them by.

Shopping, enjoying life, eating food and being generally unaware, the people he watched were happy and content with their lives. Had they known an unknown danger was looming on the horizon, one that would change the dynamic of society into a much wider frame with little more than a show of power from one singular UFO. Sainan had changed in the past two years, sure the Devilukean 'invasion' had been removed from everyone's mind when Lala attempted to erase her presence, lately the strangeness surrounding his cozy little town, or rather brought to light by Lala and himself, had begun to attract visitors and conspiracy theorists from around the world. Many people seeking fame claimed to be 'aliens', some for fame, while others were jokes or pranks, though some took advantage of this period to come out, like Run and Kyouko had by revealing themselves to be 'alien idols', though it was hard to tell now what was considered accepted and what was being lost to urban myth. Rito really wondered how the world would react to knowing what was truth and what was fiction, that aliens did walk among them, and some did wish them harm, rather than choosing to partake in the peaceful atmosphere the Earth had brought out as a sort of vacation planet.

He thought of the other world he had visited in his quote unquote 'death' that Lala had brought him out of. Had he really died and changed history his own history? The Earth he had returned to had seemed different, more open to the strange and exotic, but had that merely been a reflection of his need for acceptance of the strange and exotic life he now lived, or had he truly believed that an Earth where aliens co-mingled with humanity was possible? Had they truly changed their world's history, or was it that his six-month period of moping about in a heart-broken daze had obscured to him how accepting the Earth had become these past few years. One would think decades of terrible movies using cheesy gimmicks and terrible special effects, of world conquering aliens or visitors bringing unintended change and war to Earth, would cause xenophobia and fear of the unknown; yet the Earth seemed ever more resilient, ever hungry to make contact with extra terrestrial life, despite it having lived underneath its noses for decades by now.

His musings were broken as the taxi slowed to its halt, and the daydreams he imagined were replaced with the hustle and bustle of people going about the airport, coming and going in waves. Getting out of the car, and with Nana's assistance, they successfully accounted for every bag and bauble, and made their way to the luggage check. Unable to go any further once everything was set to be shipped with his mother, they proceeded to have a tearful farewell on his Mother's behalf, before they had to depart with her going to check into her flight and begin her pre-screening process. Unfortunately, a little too late, Rito had realized that they didn't have enough money to get home after paying the cab fair one way, but they did have enough to make it a safe distance into Sainan proper, leaving a bit of a walk the rest of the way.

 **OoOoOoOoO**

Sighing as the taxi made its way from the park, the furthest it seemed they could go with his pitiful pocket change, it dropped them off and left them behind to find their next occupant. Nana had convinced him to stop for a few minutes and relax, offering to watch over Celine for a bit while exploring the playground equipment. Agreeing to let her watch over Celine with Peke's help, Rito walked over to a nearby bench to sit down and relax before they made the long walk home. It was only half past ten o'clock by now, and lunch was expected for another couple of hours, so they had time to kill as they weren't very far subjectively from the house. He was fatigued, whether it was from the weighty message he had received, or the fact he just saw his mother off for what could be the last time if their paths never crossed again before the six months were past.

The choice would have to be made before then, though he didn't know what he would make, nor how he could make it alone. Putting a thumb to his mouth, he began to nervously chew on his nail while his mind began to wander deeper into thought. He just didn't know how he was going to tell his sister this, when the inevitable came up, nor how he was going to explain this to his friends, let alone coming out and burdening Lala with this. Rito knew she was strong enough to deal with this, she had promised herself to him and he likewise to her, but her personality was so cheerful and erratic, that he didn't know how she would respond to this additional pressure put upon them now. She was carefree, rebellious, she often shirked her teachings and duties as a princess to escape to Earth, influenced her sisters into doing the same, and came to love both Rito and the Earth like it was her own home despite being a princess of a galactic empire.

 _What was he thinking?_

His troubled face relaxes a bit, as he realizes he's just over thinking everything. Lala loved the Earth just as much as she loved him, of course she would do everything in her power to help him protect it. While she was a goof off, she had shown incredible ingenuity, craftiness, and tactful planning that made even Zastin proud, something that betrayed that same carefree facade and revealed how intelligent she really was despite her seeming naivety. Opening his eyes he looks up through the shady branches of the tree the bench was located under, as streams of sunlight penetrated the greenery to spread its warmth spottily on his skin. Groaning as he stretches in the warmth and shade, he takes stock of where Nana and Celine are playing on the swings, the young child being pushed by the Devilukean girl, going higher and higher. He needed to do something, go somewhere, where he could get these thoughts and feelings vocalized without Celine, Nana, or Peke present. A thought occurred to him, a place he could go that wasn't well traveled, and was somewhere on the way home that Nana and Celine could meet him up with later.

Stepping past kids and their family members that were taking advantage of the beautiful day to enjoy lunches, he traversed the minefield of forgotten toys and snot-munching children to reach the swings, where Nana played with Celine. "Faster, higher!" he could hear in between giggles, as he watched Nana push Celine with one hand, as other children watched in awe at such little effort being put into making a child soar. Rito could tell she was basking in the praise of the children, who were clamoring around her to get her attention.

One of the other children on the swings bravely approached her, tugging on the fringes of her skirt to get her attention. "Aneue, can you swing me as high as Celine-chi?" the child, a little girl who Celine had befriended in her trips to the park with Mikan, asked the youngest Devilukean princess. Nana smiled, unable to say no after everyone cheered her on, so she slowed Celine down to a safe speed before helping the other little girl into a swing to start pushing her. Rito watched as the children laughed and cheered in awe, while Nana played it off like it was no big deal, yawning even and closing her eyes as she kept the girl swinging high in an arc. Eventually she caught sight of Rito, blushing furiously as she catches him smiling at her, and nearly misses getting sacked by the child as she swings back, having not stopped her from going back. Thankfully Rito steps in, grabbing at the chains to keep her from flailing around and hit any of the other kids gathered around.

" _Tt, tt, tt, tch..._ Ow," she states, rubbing the back of her head and neck, having been surprised and stumbled to the ground. She looks up as Rito offers a hand, helping her to stand up, before she brushes dirt and sand from her skirt. "Da-ng it Rito, what the heck are you doing, just watching like a creeper like that," She asks, crossing her arms and huffing at him, "At least give me a warning if you're going to stare..." Rito laughs a little, before walking away from the swings a bit and dragging her partly away from the gaggle of kids.

"I was just going to tell you guys that I'm planning to take a walk out to the bridge crossing, we still have time, so don't hurry along or anything," Rito states, as Nana cocks an eyebrow out of interest, "I just need to clear my head, I need some space, so let's meet up in an hour or so..." He looks back at the gaggle of kids surrounding Celine, as she babbles excitedly among the group children of various younger ages. "I think you're doing great with those children by the way," he tries to encourage her, smiling and giving her a thumbs up while rubbing the back of his neck, "You've got your own fan-club, 'Big Sis' Nana." She immediately begins to turn red, from her flush cheeks, to the tips of her ears. Looking totally pissed off, like she wants to punch him for doing something stupid, she instead takes a deep breath, before waving him off and turning back towards the group of children.

"Yeah, well, whatever..." she states as she stalks back towards Celine's position, "Do whatever macho, manly thing you need to, but be ready to escort me and Celine home... we don't want Aneue to worry, or anything..." She pouts as she walks back, blushing, but thankfully out of Rito's view. Rito merely sighs, thankful she understood without resorting to violence and setting a bad example for those kids watching her, and took off down towards the river and the bridge crossing.

Thankfully the bridge would be empty around this time of year, not many people choosing to stick around the poorly shaded area, in favor of the much cooler shops and frozen treat stands open around the city. It had a year round supply of illegally dumped trash, graffiti, and perfect location that made it out of the way and least likely traversed area on the river front among numerous others. This meant he would be free to let off steam, as long as he was careful and not flashy in his use of power, his built up stress and dangerously high levels of dark matter in his body could be put to a productive use while helping to clean up around the area. He had gotten skilled enough to take off the graffiti without disturbing the bridge, and using his dark matter blasts he could safely atomize the non-recyclable, non biodegradable matter, like the cigarette butts people tossed over the side of the bridge as they drove, or foolish kids that came down to the river to hide their misuse of tobacco. Honestly it irked him a bit whenever he caught a kid doing just that, but they usually scrammed before he could give them a piece of his mind.

He stopped as he drew closer to the bridge, surprised when he notices a shadow moving amongst the one cast beneath the structure. Rito grumbles underneath his breath as he realizes that the boy he is seeing could not be more older than himself. ' _Whatever he is doing, it has to be illegal,_ ' Rito thinks to himself, knowing no one willingly spends time under the bridge, ' _I can't blow off steam if they stay here, so I'll have to scare him off first..._ ' Rito walks closer to the kid,in hopes appearing here may scare him off, when he begins to notice that what he thought was a kid messing around, may be something very different. He notices the place looks cleaner than normal, garbage mostly gone, except for a discarded Sofa that appears to have been moved into such a position that it faced the river while being mostly undercover. Rito also sees that there appear to be clean-ish looking blankets strewn about over the sofa, an oil drum barrel situated somewhat nearby and full of sticks pointing out from the top, a weathered looking backpack that looks durable while spilling out with junk food, and an impromptu clothesline hanging from one end of the couch to one of the support pillars. On it appears to be a weathered army jacket of the green variety, ripped, black jeans, and a white t-shirt that all appear to be drying in the sun.

The all-but-nude kid in boxers finally takes notice of him, though it wasn't until he sniffed the air and leveled his gaze at him, that Rito realized the situation was more awkward than it could be. The kid draped one of the blankets on his sofa around him, before getting up and taking a defensive stance towards Rito. "Hey, what are you doing here, this is my camp site!" the youth calls out, and Rito realizes that he was quite odd, despite the circumstances of their first meeting, "I told those bums that this place is my new territory, I won't let you put me behind bars again, and I as heck won't share my space with you!" He was black and white haired, mostly white at the top it seemed, with black hair that gave him an almost salt and pepper look as it blended, and beyond his lean look, he obviously had muscle mass testifying he had sufficient food intake, despite living on the streets. The wind suddenly shifted, blowing at Rito's back, until it caused a physical change in the teenage boy's stance. "I recognize this scent..." he mutters too himself, and he looks Rito straight in the eyes, "I apologize, I have issue seeing color and facial recognition problems; I thought you were one of those troublemakers trying to mess with me and my territory again..." He almost appears to be sheepish, but Rito nods, knowing some of the guys around town could be quite mean and even dangerous to meet out on the streets.

"I won't bite you, I promise," the guy says, inviting Rito closer with a wave of his hand, before going to check the clothes on the line, "Some kids came by earlier today, they tried harassing me, and I ended up falling into the riverbank going after some stuff they stole from me; so I apologize for my appearance, little brother..." The way the boy speaks so formerly to him, calling him 'otouto' surprises him greatly, as he has never even met this man before in his life. Yet this youth called him 'little brother,' which was confusing as he was either about the same age or younger than Rito himself. The teen began to check on the dryness of his clothes, before removing the shirt hanging on the line and squeezing a few more streams of water from it, confirming his story to Rito in regards to having been in the river. "I'm sure you don't recognize me, little brother, but I recognize your scent even if you inhabit that different body," he states, turning to stare into Rito's eyes with his own amber pools, "You smell exactly like you did prancing around my former mistress: uncertain, nervous, hesitant, and utmost of all, distressed... May I inquire what troubles you so?" The man tilts his head to the side, and for once Rito can see just how different this child is when he notices what he thought was wild cowlicks in his hair caused by it drying naturally, was actually hair that must have been gelled up to look like a pair of dog or cat ears.

Hesitant to say anything, Rito realizes that the unfamiliar teen seemed harmless, if a little strange even for Sainan. Sighing, Rito walks over to the couch, the other teen beckoning him to sit and talk while he returns to his blanket. "I don't know why you think you know me, but you try and not be surprised at seeing some random kid hanging out under a bridge; wouldn't you find that strange?" he rhetorically asks, but the boy merely smiles at the prodding remark, "Hmmph, well, of you must know, I've come into some troubling news regarding my future prospects in life..." The teen nods as he listens to Rito continue. "My- girlfriend and I, are planning to get married by the end of the school year; things surrounding our situation are a bit complicated though, and she may be forced to go home shortly afterwards," Rito states, sighing and hanging his head in his hands, "Even if we do get married, I may- no, I will be forced to give up either my home and friends, or take a stand, doing something drastic I might later regret, to keep my family and my friends close, to let me stay here..." He drifts off, but the sudden feeling of a heavy weight on his lap surprises him into moving his head and hands. While faced away from him, the strange, homeless teen has laid across his lap, both 'ears' somehow lying flat against his head now, the blanket wrapped around him deceptively warm and fluffy, despite appearances.

"You've got it rough, kid, and I wish I could understand all of what you are going through," the kid starts to say out of the blue, one of his ears flicking forward and up from his head, much to Rito's surprise, "I mean, you've got aliens, ghosts, crazy alien possessed swords, living weapons, and a beautiful girl at your side, and you can't think of anything to deal with this?" Rito blinks a bit out of shock, but frowns as he scrupulously observes this man's character once more. The kid obviously didn't go to Sainan High, nor did he seem to have any school clothes at all on him, so his immediate thought was that he was homeless, but he seemed to know a lot more than what he should have possibly known. "Did you know I'm living with Ryouko Mikado-Sensei, and Shinzu Onee-San?" the mysterious kid blurts out of the blue, while odd, it suddenly made a lot more sense to Rito why he knew so much, "I've heard a lot about your exploits from them, little brother, but I know personally that despite each of the challenges you've faced, you've gotten through them, or beaten them back time and again, even if it could have cost you your life..." The kid sits up from his lap, before turning to sit back and look out across the river and underside of the bridge.

"You know, I was once saved from drowning in this river, after I was a 'Bad Boy' that ran away from my mistress," he states, again going off tangent, "My life seemed so much simpler then, I didn't have a care in the world and had a home, food, and a caring girl who I made it my goal in life to protect and keep her smiling..." He turned his head towards Rito and leaned back further into the couch until he was practically looking up. "Now I get by day to day, I work for my food by helping out protect Shizu-san from stray dogs when she's on errands, and Mikado-sensei has taught me how to live my human life to the fullest, despite all the trouble I've caused her since I showed up..." He laughs, and stands up, dropping the blanket once more before going to check on his shirt, pulling it free and putting the stiff piece of clothing back on. "Rito... I know this will sound crazy, but I know you've heard of crazier things, but..." he turns back to Rito with a smile, putting his hands behind his back, before bowing his head low to Rito, "My name is Marasume Maron, formerly Sairenji Maron, and through unknown means, I am a pet dog having turned into a demi-human." Rito's jaw dropped a bit at that, but his memories flashed back to an event over half a year ago, when one of Lala's devices caused beings to become other beings spontaneously.

"Y-you are M-Maron?" Rito's voice cracks a bit out of disbelief, as the image of the carefree Boston Terrier is overlaid onto the serious face of the youth before him. He couldn't reconcile the two, the disbelief causing him to freeze up, as Maron stood up, drooping one ear and cocking his head as he stared at Rito while looking physically uncomfortable. For some reason, it hurt him more than it should have, having opened himself up to someone who he thought would be understanding of his troubles. Ever since becoming a demi-human, Maron had played at being the 'lone wolf' when he wasn't on a job for Mikado, shying away from people upon learning Haruna had left town before he had the courage to say goodbye. Realizing the blonde haired teen wasn't going to respond any time soon, he decided to grab his pants and socks which were now dry, and proceed to finish getting dressed incase some miscreant or police officer came down to see him in disarray and cart him off yet again to the police station. Shrugging on pants, then wrestling with damp socks, he grabs his shoes that Doctor Mikado gave him and put them on, despite the dampness he still felt within the shoes.

Looking over to the blonde, yellow eyed teen before him, Maron fought against the urge to blank out his face, forcing himself to focus on Rito. "Rito?" Maron forces himself to speak, "I know this is kind of sudden but I've been alone and you've had all this crap forced onto you, and man, I got to say I really don't understand half of what's been going on, but I know you really seem to need to get stuff off your chest, so I thought I'd offer you..." he stops, realizing he is rambling, and choosing to sigh over the fact he was acting like he was going to the vet for shots, or something, "Look I don't know much, although I'm loyal, I'm honest, and I'm sure you only want to make everyone happy, but I think you need some perspective outside of this town, the world is bigger than just Sainan after all..." Those words seemed to cause something to stir in the blonde, and Rito seemed to slowly come back to reality, staring through himself at first, but then focusing on the demi-human before him.

"Right... right; more than just Sainan..." he mumbles, before a bright spark seems to light up in his eyes, and slowly blinking he becomes more energetic in Maron's eyes, "Your right, I'm only worried about my friends... about my family, when this is more than just all of that..." He trails off, Maron not knowing really where he's going with this, but having heard that Lala was a princess, and Rito was going to marry her, he knew from his former mistresses' stories that Kings never had it easy as they came into their position. At least, that's what he got from the stories Haruna had daydreamed over when the commoner wooed the royal heir and had to overcome their own trials; Rito's situation was no different. "Thanks Maron, you've given me something to think about," Rito responds, causing Maron to brighten up a little, "I want to get to know you better, get your opinions on things too- but right now I think we'll need to postpone that!" The sudden shift in the wind brought new scents for Maron's enhanced sense of smell to identify, and he realized that a young woman and a child were approaching them from the side. Thankfully Maron had his clothes back on, but it didn't stop him from flushing with heat once he realized who it was that he was finally able to meet.

"Rito, there you are!" the silver haired, blue-eyed girl states, creamy white skin glowing in the warm sun, her brown tail swinging and curling in the air behind her, telegraphing her nervousness upon realizing they weren't alone, "Celine was getting hungry, she was stating to get cranking once she realized you weren't nearby, not like I was worried about you though; I now you can carry yourself, or something..." Maron bit back a snicker, though he spied another person hidden behind the girl's legs. Dirty blonde hair, a pure white flower resting on her head like a giant hat, and vivid, piercing orange eyes that were pools of both trepidation and curiosity staring at the new figure ahead of her. He had met her once before, though she smelt different then, he couldn't say he hadn't changed just as much as she had.

"You must be Celine-chan, Ryouko-sama has been telling me about how she watches you during school hours, since the infirmary isn't that busy most of the time," he gives her what he hopes is a reassuring smile, and the girl peeks out more from behind the other girls legs staring intently at his head, so he kneels down to her level with his head bowed knowing what has captivated her interest, "Go ahead, give them a pet, I won't bite." He tries to say it jokingly, but thankfully it is lost on Celine, and she goes on to give him a cautious stroke over his sensitive second pair of ears. The only physical feature he retained upon turning into a humanoid, his 'ears' weren't exactly true ears, but they felt and acted exactly like he remembered they did in his canine form, and they still granted him better hearing too. A low-key whine escapes from the back of his throat, surprising everyone at the sound, and causing Maron to embarrassingly cover his mouth and take a step back from the group of three. Giving a cough, Maron turned his eyes to the last person in the group, the ashy, silver haired beauty that had caught his eye.

He smiles and takes a step towards her, taking in her scent as he pushes his face towards her, eyes closed as he drinks it all in. Exciting his memories as the same girl who could understand him in his canine form, he smiled and pulled back out of her personal space. Kneeling before her, he takes her hand before she can resist, and gives it a kiss. "We meet once more, Miss, though perhaps I've changed a bit more since our last meeting," Maron states, letting go over her hand and turning to look up at her cerulean eyes, "As beautiful as I remember, those cold cerulean eyes, that flowing, silver hair..." A little to eager and excited, he quickly jumps up as if to grab her, but instead he quickly grasps at a lock of her hair, taking in the scent of watermelon, sweat, and other scents tangled up in the entirety of her form. Deeper than mere memories, than visual colors painted in the landscape of his mind, to one such as he who is part dog, her scent added upon his vision of her another whole, complex layer that seemed to be bursting with sweet confusion, tense anxiety, and sharp, bitter anger. He barely feels himself pitch forward, the ground suddenly swimming up to meet him, as he feels conflicting sensations of trauma to his stomach that make him both feel breathless and feel like he could throw up at the same time. Blonde hair enters the fringes of his vision, and shortly later the hard, cold ground is replaced with the softer, lumpy couch that had been abandoned underneath the bridge. He laughed as he felt unconsciousness calling him, happy he still had a perfect image crafted in his head now, despite the pain.

"Nana, why did you do that!" Rito yells, witnessing the Devilukean Princess suddenly go from shocked to pissed at the stranger suddenly assaulting her personal space, while saying weird things that didn't make sense. ' _Although I can understand why that seemed so strange,_ ' Rito thinks to himself, ' _Maron was spouting nonsense about blue eyes and silver hair, when Nana has pink hair and purple eyes..._ ' Scooping up the supine form of his downed friend(?), Rito gently lifted him up from the ground and flipped him onto his side and onto the forgotten couch. Nana was steaming on the sidelines, with a pouting Celine puffing up her face and beating her little fists against the tough girl's thigh.

"Mau!" Celine stated indignantly towards a surprised Nana's reaction, "Bad Nana, no hurting Maron!" At that, both Rito and Nana were surprised at the toddler's reactions, albeit for different reasons.

"M-Maron?" Nana says incredulously, staring at the fainted human, or rather now that she had a better look, alien child before them, straying over the ears that make up part of his hair, "He's at the very least from Sirius, or Canis Major, probably a stray one trying to make a pack and a name for himself on Earth..." She clicks her tongue and turns to Rito. "You were talking to him, weren't you Rito?" Nana insinuates a little bit harsher than normal, "Tell Celine she's wrong, that this- Kid, can't be that sweet, adorable, missing pet of Sairenji's!" Her exasperation was evident, but her face fell as Rito refused to look her in the eyes in favor of making sure the unconscious child was alright. "Ri-to, that's not Maron, is it?" she changes her tune, feeling a little hesitant now, putting a hand over her mouth realizing what she had done, "Oh my gosh, how is he like that?" She goes over to stand above where his head rests, Rit and Celine at the front of the couch, while Nana tentatively examines him in a new light. "Dogs have a form of colorblindness, they don't have as many cones as a human eyes does, so they can't distinguish colors like pink or purple, or even orange and green..." Nana states as she gently brushes her hand against the ears on top of his head, seemingly transfixed by the unusual features, "If he's now a Beastman he's obviously Canidae, but is it Lycan descent, or Vulpine..." She mumbles to herself a bit, before turning away and walking a bit away from the couch, biting on her thumb in worry.

Deciding to walk over to where Nana stood, Rito grabbed onto her so as to shake her from her mutterings. Nana turns to him in surprise, but settles down as she shakes her head. "Nana, is everything okay?" Rito asks the Devilukean princess, "What does it matter if he's one or another?" Nana glances over to watch Celine climb up onto the couch, on the far side where Maron's feet don't quite reach, and just silently watch him. She sighs before grabbing his ear and pulling it closer, while lowering the sound of her voice.

"You know how during a full moon, Celine becomes fully grown until the next morning, something in her biology causing her to transform?" Rito nods as she says this, listening closely as she continues, "Most sentient species don't react to stimuli like that, or only do during certain parts of their life cycle, except Lycanthropic Beastmen; though almost all can trace their roots through lupine ancestors, the Galactic War killed nearly all of the Lupus bloodline left in this galaxy because of this inherently dangerous instability..." Rito begins to think he knows where this is going, but he hopes it isn't what he thinks it will be. "If he is a pureblood, Maron will be very dangerous to be around during a full moon; he'll have to be locked away in a secure room capable of withstanding the strongest of animals," she states, a look of worry crossing her face as she closes her eyes, "Have you ever heard of those 'What-wolves', in your Earth fiction?" He forgives her mistranslation, as she continues on with her explanation. "Maron will assume more animalistic qualities, his natural instincts will begin to take over, and things like 'hunting' and 'mating', savage thoughts and primal desires will overwhelm his senses," Nana continues, "Physically he'll probably remain looking the same, but in his feral state he would rival, and perhaps even surpass, Zastin in terms strength and sheer power..." She opens her eyes, full of concern, and stares at Maron's sleeping face, as Celine begins to drum on his legs with her hands to get him back up.

"Are you saying we can't leave him here by himself?" Rito asks, knowing that tonight was supposed to be a full moon, Mikan having the calendar marked in preparation of the monthly visit of an adult Celine who sheds her child like form and mentality, "He's been like this for months, how come he hasn't done anything before, if its as bad as you say?" Nana puts a hand to her cheek, pondering that thought as well.

"That's the strange part, from what Zastin told me of his experiences with Lycan's, its that their unpredictability is their one constant, when various planets could have multiple moons and varying instances of lunar wavelength bombardment," she states, walking back over to the couch to grab Celine by the waist and move her, stopping her assault on the helpless man, "Maybe because he has been someone's pet, perhaps he can control how he reacts in this state, maybe someone has been helping him, giving him somewhere safe to stay in in the meantime, or it could just be pure, dumb luck that he hasn't come across another human while undergoing this change..." A sudden stirring halts their conversation, as Maron groans awake, slowly sitting up with Rito's help.

"Actually- since you guys are being so loud," he huffs, opening his eyes to stare up at both Nana and Rito, "I can let you know that Mikado-Sensei has been letting me stay down in her isolation ward she keeps for the really sick patients; she notices I'm definitely more calm than the monsters she heard about in stories as a child, but I think its all just exaggeration myself, I can still reason, I just ignore it.." Suddenly coughing, he pulls back his hand to reveal a bit of blood in his phlegm, but he keeps it from view and casual hides it from Celine by wiping it on the outside of the dirtied couch. "Dang, you got quite a punch there, Miss Hime-Sama," Maron states, looking up at her once more, "Thanks for not letting me stay on the ground, that would have been uncomfortable to wake to." He says it with a smile, but Rito and Nana both wonder if it is forced. "Well, I got to get going now that everything is dry," Maron states, as he gets up and stretches his stiff joints, "Shizu has to go out tonight to get some groceries for the Doctor's home, I better get back so I can help her out, or I'll be out a dinner tonight too." He gets up to leave, but a hand from Nana stops him.

"S-sorry for overacting like that, okay?" she says hesitatingly, "I thought you were just a creep, but I'm glad we finally found you, Maron." He looks surprised at that, but quickly smiles and laughs it off.

"Yeah, well now that you guys know about me, I think I won't have to avoid you all so much now when I'm out and about as Doc's errand boy," he states with a beaming grin, as he takes her hand once more and grazes his lips against her knuckles, "As long as I get to keep seeing your pretty face and eyes, I think that will make up for both of our mistakes." Rito swore he heard a tea kettle going off, but shook it off with a laugh upon seeing Nana's red face, as Maron grabbed the remainder of his stuff and headed off in the opposite direction to their home.

"S-shut up, don't give me that look," Nana states, punching him lightly in the shoulder as they start walking back towards home, having left their hiding spot with Celine walking between the both of them, "If you ever tell anyone what I did today, they won't believe it, so don't even try, ok?" She smiles as they continue on going home, and Rito rolls his eyes a bit but continues forward, toward his home.

Rito may have not been able to get any of his frustration worked off, but at least he was able to find out that his favorite pooch was okay and living nearby. He may not have known it, but even after Haruna left, she tried to and failed to have her sister and friends search for the pooch before the end of summer and the unexpected move, though that had come later the weathered flyers could still be found around town. Perhaps a call to a certain purple-nette was due, at least to ease the worries she had probably never had abated after reconnecting with her friends. For now he would go home, talk everything out with Lala, and figure out what they were going to do next. He wouldn't let anything happen to his home, his family, or his friends, and he knew neither would she, for soon it would be as much hers as it was his.

 **OoOoOoOoOoO**

"We're back!" Rito calls out, as he opens the door to his home, allowing Celine and Nana in before he closes and locks the door behind him, "Mikan? Lala? Momo?" Momo peeks out of the kitchen, wearing an apron and mixing something in a bowl, a smile gracing her face as she catches sight of everyone.

"Ah, everything go alright with your Mother then?" Momo asks, as Celine pulls a blushing and frantic Nana into the hallway and up towards the stairs. Momo raises an eyebrow at that, as Mikan walks down from the upstairs and passes them by.

"Is everything alright with Nana?" Mikan asks, as she crosses her arms and gives her brother a look, "Did you do something strange to her, Rito?" She puffs her cheeks out into a pout, staring him down and tapping her foot impatiently waiting for a response. "What do I need to tell Lala about now, Oniisan?" she threatens him, which causes him to throw his hands up in surprise, as he hastily tries to appease her.

"Wait, no, nothing happened because of me, geez Mikan!" he complains, looking relieved as her expression becomes a little bit judging yet hard to read, "We met someone coming back from the park, they saw Nana and got a little too excited... Nana kind of overreacted and socked him, but the guy was in the wrong too, you know?" He then had a question for her, now that her expression softened with a sigh. "Now- what were you doing upstairs, and where is Lala?" he asks his younger sister and Momo, "I thought she had stayed behind expressly to help you out Mikan." Momo shares a glance with Mikan, before convincing Celine to follow her into the kitchen, leaving the Yuuki siblings to talk.

"Lala's upstairs, waiting for you in your room, Rito," Mikan states plainly, sighing and crossing her arms, "She didn't want me to say anything more than that, but you should go up there now and speak with her, or else you may not like the surprise..." With a wry and knowing smile, Mikan follows Celine and Momo into the kitchen to help finish up. This left a confused and puzzled Rito at the foot of the stairs, so he blinked and stared up the steps before ascending them to figure out what was suddenly going on.

Knocking on the door to his room, he puts his hand to the doorknob. "I'm coming in," he announces as he opens the door to his room, as silly as it seemed, "Lala, I don't know what you're doing in my room, but unless you're planning..." He stops mid sentence and blinks at the assortment on the floor and on his bed, as he stares flabbergasted at the scene before him. Lala turns as if to acknowledge him, a smile lighting up her features as she hops over piles neatly arranged on the floor, to glomp him tightly. Startled, they collide against the mirror on the back of his door, jostling the portal but thankfully not activating it and tumbling through the looking glass like previous times. "Lala, what's going on?" he asks in amazement, staring at the various piles of clothing, both on his bed and the floor, most of it his, but some of it neatly folded undergarments and clothing of the feminine variety that are not his sister's clothes, "What, are we taking a trip and I'm only hearing about it now?"

She rubs her silken hair into his shoulder and neck, tickling his nape, while staring up at him with a sheepish smile. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought she looked like Mikan, when he caught her with her hands in the cookie jar... "Ehh?" he states in disbelief, as she still doesn't answer him, " ** _EehhhhHHHHHH?_** " He stumbles over to the massive suitcase, obviously Devilukean in its design, sitting on his bed, he admires its sleek, metallic look before taking a look at its contents. The half packed suitcase on his bed is stuffed with folded clothes, what looks to be some tools or parts, and what looks to be some kind of envelope with a Devilukean seal on it. He turns back to Lala with a questioning gaze. "Where are you going? Where am I going?" he asks, "And why are you packing it all into one massive suitcase?" She coughs nervously as he picks up some of her clothes on the floor, before she grabs them from him and packs them away.

"I-uhm, heard about the message my father sent you, and I listened to it while you were at the airport seeing Rito-Mama off," she states wringing her hands along the edges of her shirt, while bashfully avoiding Rito's gaze, "My Papa didn't give you much of a choice Rito, you reacted so badly this morning I was worried enough to try and figure out what was in the message; if only to see what I could do to help." At this point she walks closer to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and pulling in for a chaste kiss on the lips. "You and I both need to learn we aren't alone anymore in our burdens," she states, grabbing his left hand with her own, entwining fingers so the rings are clearly visible, "We can do this together, solve this new problem, using your knowledge of Earth and my upbringing as a Princess as a way to bring about a solution." Rito feels uneasy, but tries to hide his nervousness with a smile.

"So, what are we doing, then?" he asks, deciding to help her pack the suitcase if he can't convince her to stop, "Where are we going?" Lala smirks proudly as she packs the last few stacks into the metal container, closing it and sitting on top while motioning for him to zip it shut.

"We're heading to Gaama!" she replies cheerfully, putting a finger to her temple, closing one eye, and sticking out her tongue, "Kidding! Daddy already took care of the liquidation of Lacospo's assets, he deposited it into the same account our rings allow us access to, and that account is held in the outer galactic financial district..." He raises his eyes in question, which she quickly realizes means he expects her to continue. "Ah! It's a collection solar systems that span a couple of quadrants; the various collective species who live there turned asteroids and barren planets into, well, planet sized vaults to cater to the galactic trade community," she explains, "They were the ones that established the Galactic Value of Units, or G.V.U., that is the trade standard for different planets, empires, and such that acts as a unilateral standard for exchanging different worlds currencies based on their planet's Ranks!" At that Rito pretended he understood, but frowned when he realized what they classified Earth as.

"So, why are we heading there?" he asks, "I don't think Earth has a very high trade value, rankings wise..." Lala nods, but then she taps the side of her head.

"Ah, yes, but the funds we have aren't based off of Earth but of Gaama, which is one of the ten richest empires left in the galaxy; that means the value of our Standard Units is higher since Father converted it into Devilukean credits then into standard," she states, as she pulls out a device and shows him the GVU they had when it was converted, "Look at all those zeros! That's more money than I've ever attained with my lifetime allowance up to now!" Rito's eyes went wide at the amount of zeroes that trailed down a few pages.

"Is that even legal?" he asks, as Lala shrugs. She closes the machine and grabs the bag, taking Rito's hand in her own and pulling him out the bedroom door and down the stairs to the front door.

"You have to remember that this place is the entire sum of a galaxies worth, if not two or three, and by my estimates of what we have here, we could buy the entire solar system three times with this money, and still have enough to retire comfortably to a castle villa on Deviluke," Lala surmises, putting away the space calculator, "and that's before you have the entire wealth of the empire and its territories added to that once you become King." Rito sucks in a breath at that, and turns to Lala with an idea on his lips. "It won't work," she answers before he even asks the question, as if she had read his mind, "I thought of buying the solar system up too, but this is a GPD safety issue; terrorists are more important than the rights of who owns what planet." He visibly deflates at that, but she gives him a reassuring squeeze with her hand. "It's fine, we will figure this out, but we need funds to back whatever we plan to do...," she opens the door, and in front of his house Mikado Ryoko stands with her arms crossed over her bountiful bosom, "Which is why I convinced Mikado-sensei to take us, while she goes hunting for rare medicinal plants!" Rito looks outside the door, to find Ryouko Mikado already standing by her car, as if she was waiting for them. Rito quickly stops Lala from going any further, forcing her to ccle back as mid-step, turning to face Rito with a puzzled expression.

"But- what about school, work, we can't just skip out again for another month,or I won't ever graduate," Rito states with concern, as reality crashes down on him like a wave once more, "We've been gone for one or two months already Lala, if we miss much more of the school curriculum, even the school board will become aware of my absences, and force that lazy, perverted Principal of ours school to finally take action regarding all the crazy things that have happened over the past three years!" Lala sees the concern in his eyes, but she smiles and brushes her hand against his cheek, forcing him to stop staring down Mikado's car like it was his last ride, and gently guides him to face her.

"I know, I know its not ideal, but at most we'll be gone two or three days traveling there on the main causeways, but we don't have to stay there once we get things set up," Lala states, as she gets him to focus on her, "The banks deal in a lot of things, like most financial institutes they also deal in objects sold to them by their various clients and such for collateral." Rito raises an eyebrow at that, but she just laughs knowing she was going to spoil the surprise for him. "Rito, I'm sure as a guy you've always wanted to own your own car, right?" he nods,wondering how that correlated, but she just giggles again in response, "Well, so we don't have to worry about where Yami-san and the Lunatique is, or when Zastin gets better, what would you say about owning your own space cruiser?" Rito blinks, while Lala waits for his response. He turns around and puts a hand to his forehead, before he shows a disbelieving grin.

"Can I get one that's a car too?" he jokes, as she laughs in response, "What, haven't you ever heard of flying car; they're popular in Earth science fiction books and movies!" He grabs the suitcase, leaning down and kissing her as she passes the heavy suitcase into his hands. "Let's go," he says, slightly begrudgingly as he pulls away, "Mikado-Sensei is waiting.." Lala sighs happily as she turns back to the door and gives a thumbs up. Mikan waves goodbye back, with Nana and Momo looking over her shoulders, Celine heartily waving from Nana's shoulders.

 **A/N: Trouble is brewing, isn't it? We welcome the first introduction of Human!Maron into this story, follow how he got here in my One-Shot collection, of which the first part of his story is now out. Sorry for such a lengthy set, 11,000 plus words, but its to make up for not posting regularly. Originally this was two chapters, but splitting it up made it lose impact, so an extra long Chapter Three!**

 **Don't forget to favorite, follow, and especially, Review, as it helps keep my mental juices flowing. Thanks for everyone who has stuck around so far!**

 **edit: Not another update, sorry. Minor word change, as I realized I was referencing flowers, not wolves...**


	4. The Job: Part 1

` **A/N: It's been a while, eh? Sorry for being late, but I recently had to rewrite my whole plan for this story out, so I figured quality over quantity might be appreciated. Now enjoy the new chapter!**

**********

 **Back on Deviluke,**  
 **Before**

Gid Lucion Deviluke sits on his throne, alone, his wife having left during his recuperation to return to her work to smooth over the recent tension between Gaama and the remainder of the universe, hoping to avoid igniting any of the smoldering embers of war that Lacospo's boasting could have stirred up. He had seen Zastin's slow recovery before overseeing the return of his daughters to Earth, with Rito and their friends in tow. Unfortunately after the first two days of recuperation, dealing with political idiots who had very little understanding of politics or the fact he could rip various organs from their body with one hand, he was in a terrible mood when he received a call from a very old, very unfriendly rival he once had before becoming King of the goddamn universe.

Retreating into his personal study and shutting out the whining mass of foreigners and diplomats 'threatening' withdrawal of their support for rejecting any more marriage applicants, after his daughter had affirmed her choice, Gid found himself sitting before a viewing screen that held the smug face of a youthful looking bast*rd that he knew to be a little bit older than himself. "What do you want, Flamberg?" the irate King asks the Flamian, who appeared to be in some kind of space ship and not on his home planet Igneus, "Did you call just to waste more of my precious oxygen, you hot-headed cradle-robber?" The slightest twitching in his face allowed Gid the satisfaction of a smirk, knowing he had gotten to the coal-hearted youth who looked half his age.

"Funny, Gid, but I thought I let you know I was leaving Earth after helping my cousin out of a bit of a jam, and I picked up some intersting chatter from the GPD bands on my way out of customs," The blonde haired, spectacled goth stated, sighing as he took of his glasses to wipe them clear of soot, "The silverfish where skittish, I overheard someone mention a rumor that some terrorist cell was putting Earth in it's cross-hairs." The frown returned to Gid's face, as he realized that whatever the claims were, it was must have been serious if the pretty-boy was calling to inform him after years of happy silence between them. "There part of my old crew, you know the ones I turned against when it turned out they were turning children into weapons?" Those words chilled even Gid's blood, as he remembers the waning years and the fallout of ending the Galactic War, "It seems one of Eden's old backers finally surfaced after all these years, once word spread that the Doctor was broken out of your maximum security prison, and it seems like he's made quite a name for himself as the 'Boss' of some small-time science-based terror organization named..."

"Solgam," Gid mutters under his breath, thinking back to a few days ago when he learned that the Grey Cells were broken into, "Unless your reports of them being small-time is wrong, they seemed to have cleaned up there act enough to recruit suicidal anarchists and well-trained military strategists into their ranks now, if it was Solgam who broke out the Doctor..." He snarls and whips his tail in clear agitation, while Charden Flamberg watched stone-faced all the while. The Devilukean emperor then looks back into the video screen, and stares hard at the Flamian. "Did you catch any hint of why they're targeting Earth, or what the silverfish think they're after on that planet?" Charden smiled slightly, before hitting some keys off screen and opening a picture onto his own. "Sh*t!" Gid snarls, before angrily tossing himself away from the chair and destroying it in the raw show of strength, cracking it from the grip he had given off as he hurriedly left the room to talk to Zastin.

"Send my greetings and declarations of love to the missus!" Charden called out, smirking as he prepared to end the call, "I didn't even get to tell you who the boss even is, idiot..." Charden sighs as he ends the communication, the screen blacking out to be replaced with the fizzling static that was the cosmic background radiation.

 _OoOoOoOoO_

 _The Lunatique_  
 _Halfway to Earth_

" _Mizzz, it zzzeemzz we are being contacted on private band by the Devilukean King!_ " the Lunatique's artificial intelligence spoke up in the middle of the sleep cycle, popping onto the screen inside its mistresses room, " _Zzzhall I put it through?_ " A mumble here, a slurred word here, and the artificial intelligence regulated its avatar to the main cockpit of the vessel, to await the arrival of its mistress. The blonde haired woman had just been woken from her sleep by the look of the black, shimmering nightdress upon her form, slightly stumbling into the cockpit followed by a sleepy-eyed Kuro and barely conscious Mea.

"Put it through, you bucket of bolts," Kuro absent mindedly insults the computer, "Whatever it is is obviously important enough to call us for..."

 _*Zzzap_ *

"Yowch!" Kuro cried out, as the cackling grin of the skeletal A.I. powers down the internal weapons array, the black-haired hero steaming as he stared down the incorrigible machine.

Yami hide the snicker with her hand, before quickly assuming appropriate attire and facing the screen. Soon the form of the silver-haired, currently disabled, knight of Deviluke appears on screen with a sullen look upon him. "Golden Darkness, Red-Headed Mea, and Black Cat, I am afraid I must interrupt your return journey home to Earth, and request you chart course for return to Deviluke post haste," Zastin semi-orders with his stern voice, "Urgent matters have come up that require a face-to-face explanation, but King Gid of Deviluke has informed me he is utilizing the personal contract we drafted up to hire your services, and all will be explained upon your arrival; Zastin out." At that the connection cut before they could argue, or get a word in edgewise, but it was clear to all three of the former assassin's that the clipped tone and urgency in his voice was genuine.

"I'm guwin back ta' bed-" Mea half mumbles, her loose, red hair cascading freely over the pair of puppy pajamas with designs that suspiciously look like Maron, as she yawns and heads back to the crew quarters of the ship.

Awake and both alert, Kuro turns to Yami with a knowing gaze. "There's only one reason Zastin would have called us personally back to Deviluke, as bad a condition as he was when we left," the golden eyed boy states, looking out of the main window to the swirl of stars, as the Lunatique slows to a crawl to readjust its course before entering high speeds once more, "The only reason they'd be calling us is for our skills, this isn't going to be something we can take lightly if you had any plans of going home soon, we might even have to get our hands dirty if the boss requests it..." Yami turns to him with sharp eyes and what to an normal person looks like an emotionless mask.

"Better than anyone else, we both know how much our experiences have changed us for the better," Yami states clipped, turning to face the newly streaking stars as a warp gate is opened, its destination plotted for Deviluke, "We've both learned how to do our jobs without spilling blood, and THAT is precisely why King Gid is calling us in; if he wanted blood spilt, he would have done it himself." Space folds before them, warping space into a tesseract and folding them inside it before rupturing space/time and propelling them to their destination. "Since he's become king, Gid has learned to play by the rules instead of making them his playthings," Yami states coldly but truthfully, "He has the power to rip planets to pieces, but lacks the finesse or training to hold back, that was why he hired us; that was why we accepted the contract for exclusivity." Kuro falls into the secondary chair, spinning it around as he lets out a tired breath.

"He keeps us in check, accountable under Devilukean Law and his power, and we help him become less regarded as a bloody King, is that it?" Kuro asks rhetorically, before huffing, "Feels like the Numbers all over again..." The frown on his face wouldn't leave him, as memories of another life surfaced again in his head, while he slowly closed his eyes.

 _oooo_

 _"Hey there, silly kitty!"_ she had introduced herself to him on the day they met.

 _"You want my milk?"_ He had asked before she stole it out of his hands.

 _"Saya?_ _ **NOoooo!**_ _"_ Were his last words to her.

 _"**** *** ** Kuro!"_ Were her last words him.

 _"Hello, again, Kuro..."_ The voice of the devil said, glasses reflecting his own terrified face back.

 _"Say goodbye"_

 _oooo_

Upon arrival at Deviluke, some two days later, the Lunatique's occupants were ushered down the halls and corridors, until they were left before the magnificent doors that led to the private hall where the King took audience with those he asked for. "Bit of a showoff, isn't he?" Kuro states, staring at the massive, engraved wood doors, stone walls clothed with ancient murals and silken rugs telling stories within their weaves, of Deviluke's fierce past, of its history and legends. Yami ribbed him in the elbows, while Mea snickered watching, before a the clearing of a throat from behind them alerted to the fact they were not alone before the door.

Turning to face their fourth companion, they find the dressed down form of an unexpected ally before them. "I am glad to see you are all here, it is unfortunate that Nemesis returned to Earth to accompany Rito and Princess' Lala, Nana, and Momo, but a suitable replacement has been found in the meantime," the silver haired general states, as he limps up the steps and raps on the solid doors, "She awaits inside having already been debriefed of the situation, now we will consult with all of you acquired for this mission." Yami takes the time to impartially observe the Devilukean warrior, noticing the sweat on his brown from the obvious strain he was putting on his body, but also observing the simple yet eloquently designed tunic and pants he was dressed in, the mechanical cast surrounding and no doubt keeping the injured tail set and keep it mending. Finally her eyes landed on the long, thin, metallic cane that held a large and heavy handle of some form of wood she did not recognize, though the same could be said of the black material that coated the item from three quarters of the way downwards to its tip. "Please, do not dally Godlen Darkness," Zastin reaffirms, the blonde blinking in realization her eyes had strayed far longer than necessary, "All will be explained inside."

Upon first entering the throne room, Yami noticed how her comrades gathered around the middle of the room with looks of varying confusion, while Gid sat in his throne. It was there that Yami realized someone was kneeling by the foot of his throne on the floor, a thin pillow separating her from the rough stone floor. Her eyes were closed and hands were folded over her knees, head bowed, as if patiently waiting for recognition from the man by which she sat. The chains on her wrists obviously meant she had kept her promise to the Queen, though it did surprise her that the former 'Tyrant Queen' was currently being kept leashed like a dog, so near the King. Her passiveness obviously was unusual, and it was Mea who spoke up first as Yami drew closer.

"So, the former 'Talhain Assassin Queen' reduced to a heeled dog?" the red-headed teen runs her mouth towards the white-haired woman, "finally, someone recognized her position as the b*tch she is..." Sharp eyes turned upon the youngest of the living weapons, though not from the dark-skinned assassin brought low, but from the King himself.

"If you wish to test my patience, Red-Headed Mea, please do not refer to your fourth companion as a b*tch, if you hope to successfully work together to complete your assignment," Gid states, as chains rattle and fall tot eh ground, "While Azenda of Talha, is indeed a prisoner of Deviluke, she is a willing participant and necessary addition to your team, and is in fact working off her reduced sentence by volunteering to assist you all... despite your varied histories with her." Golden Darkness can tell he is looking specifically to her, as Azenda frees herself from the iron shackles.

"The accessories were more for Zastin's convenience due to his current condition, and your comfort, rather than keeping me from resisting," she states, as she rubs her raw wrists to soothe the red skin, stretching as she walks forward to join the others while Zastin give's her a look from the right of Gid, "Besides, if you knew how much of a b*tch Sephie could be, you'd realize she'd never let her man fool around with any other women, let alone allow him any form of satisfaction from foreplay." She shoots a dirty look at Mea, then glances over to meet eyes with Golden Darkness while holding a neutral gaze that shows neither contempt nor defeat, before finally settling on the opposite side of Kuro, whom she dismisses after her eyes stray to the armament ever at his side.

"Very well, now that we are all here, Zastin, can you explain to them why I summoned them all here," Gid announces to the room, eyes settling on his subordinate General. The kneeling man grasps his cane as he uses it to support his wait, eyes glancing over the assembled group as he straightens himself up.

"Less than thirty-six hours ago, word came to us from a reliable source that a remnant of the group involved with the chaos and anarchy that followed the end of the Galactic War, has resurfaced on a fairly primitive planet that as of yet appears to bear no significant influence, resources, or reason for being targeted," Zastin states as he brings forth a handheld holographic projector that suddenly displays Earth and the Moon on a galactic map, "Earth is being tareted by members of a group called Solgam, its founding member said to be one of the scientists or backers, that funded Project:Eden under the former shell corporation that was once Tigris Industries; whom we know know were part of a large whole we now refer to as 'Eden'." Yami and Kuro both narrow their eyes at this, mea seemingly staring confused, while Azenda looks disinterested at this. "As you know during the days following Rito's recovery on Deviluke, there was a break-in at the 'Grey Cells', where the most important or dangerous scientists of the universe, those misguided or requiring protection, are held for the greater good of all, and one such person of the latter variety was aided in escaping confinement," Zastin states, Yami clenching her teeth now, as if waiting to confirm her suspicions, "though he is one of the most brilliant scientists of the modern age, Kousuke Kanzaki, alias 'the Doctor', has escaped into the hands of a terrorist organization that has slowly been gaining power: Solgam."

"Solgam?" Kuro states, now confused, "You mean those mad scientist types that act more like a gang than an organization?" He crosses his arms and puts a hand to his chin in thought. "Last I heard, weren't they the weakest group, made up of all those reject lab technicians and assistants with delusions of grandeur?" he continues, "I hear they recruit a lot of thugs for muscle, and trick idealist scientists into working for them just long enough to steal all their ideas and dump them when they stop being useful..." Azenda and Mea nod, though Yami chooses to speak up.

"While that is true, they seemed to be organized last year when they targeted Mikado sensei for her technology; apparently they had tried to recruit her before," she states, looking over to Zastin and Gid, "Is it true that Solgam was originally a threat years ago?" Zastin glances out of the corner of his eyes to his King, who smirks at the question and sighs, putting a hand to his forehead.

"Ahh... that was quite some time ago, but once, and only once, Solgam had taken enough of my attention to be a threat..." Gid states, putting his hand back onto the arm of his throne and looking over to Kuro, "A long time ago, a snot nosed brat had come to me with knowledge regarding a growing alliance of forces opposing the peace talks that could be the end of the war, and unify the galaxy under the Deviluke Empire..."

 _******_

 _Years Ago_

A black haired teen, heavily wounded after being shot, with bandages over his head, and sling on his broken arm, having just interrupted the war council of the young, newly appointed King of Deviluke. "Please, just let explain!" he states frantically, pushing away one of the guards trying to grab his uninjured arm to forcibly drag him out, "They know about the defector, and they've already moved from the base, your information is too out of date!" One of the officers shoved the kid to the side, for disrespecting their king. A drawn back fist was cut short, when the black haired ruler spoke up.

"Stop, if the boy thinks he has information, let him speak," golden eyes blaze at the guard, who lowers his fist and instead helps the kid stand. Brushing off the arm, the nervous looking kid steps forward before the King, the other assembled leaders in the room having their eyes gazing upon the child.

He nervously swallows, staring at some of the faces in the room, before gathering the courage to speak. "No offense intended, sire, but Charden Flamberg was made shortly after he left the organization, my friends- my former colleagues died walking into a trap, going off some of the information he had provided us," the teen speaks up, eyes glancing to the floor as the memories of that day haunt him, "Everyone was sent in to apprehend one of the bosses that were said to be searching for something big, some metal that could change the universe, and they ended up dying when the bases power supply overloaded and the inertial dampeners collapsed inside the volcanic base, killing them when poisonous gases and magma flooded the underground levels and cooked them all alive." The shock and murmurs that ripple through the assembled men and woman are silenced by the young Gid.

"Are you saying all of the Numbers were wiped out, they didn't even check to see if the facts were accurate?" the King harshly criticizes, "If everyone was supposed to be sent in, why weren't you killed too, why didn't they play it safe and send only a few of their men in; this is why you can't let a bunch of idealists play hero, when they don't even have any of the chivalric weaponry that...!" The young teen pulls out a weapon with a large and noticeable 'X' across its barrel.

"My name is Kuro, I go by the name of Black Cat, and I was given this weapon by the Elder himself, right before I killed him for being the traitor that betrayed our organization," Kuro states, not a hint of remorse in his eyes beyond a distant gaze filled with bitterness, "My master had been bought out with promises of inheriting a place in the 'grand new order' on the condition that he eliminate the senior Numbers and turn the rest..." He locks eyes with Gid, and the Devilukean could feel the gaze of a predator meet his own, causing his interest in this child to spike. "A man called Kousuke had been implanted in the training facility months ago, he was our medical specialist, and he ensured we were fit for duty with regular check-ups," Kuro states, "He was the man who approached the Elder, he pretended to be our trusted confidant, and when he killed the senior Numbers and gathered the remainder of the recruits, he showed his true nature like the duplicitous viper he was; poison words promising he would let us become part of something called 'Solgam', a new world order that would topple the Devilukean regime..." Gid noticed his general and right hand man tighten his grip around his sword, but lets the boy continue.

"He had injected us all with something, nano-bots with kill switches built into the inoculations he had been giving us, ones my Master had always found an excuse to have me avoid, and he used it to threaten us into surrender," he casts his eyes downward and tears begin to drip, "He didn't keep his word, people who joined him eagerly were the first to die, and my best friend and partner died in my arms before my eyes..." He grips his good hand and slams it against his knee. "Sir, I ran, I ran until I couldn't run no more, towards a ship I could flee in and hope to warn someone that something had gone wrong, but I was shot by my Master before I could make it," he looks up to Gid with tears in his eyes, "He gave me a choice, a test, and I managed to get that sole weapon away from his cold, dead hands, and ran before that monster with glasses could stop me from warning you all before you made a terrible mistake!" Paling the kid falls to his knees, but is stopped by the strong grip of Gid grabbing him and helping him stand.

"Stand proud soldier, don't let your sacrifices be in vain you clever cat," Gid offers cold praise, "You dishonor your fallen comrades if you give up here, you did your duty and I'll take your words into consideration; now go get some rest and take this with you, you'll need it when i call for you." He grabs the weapon and hands it to Kuro, who takes it and holster the gun with a weak nod.

"Thank you sir, you won't regret this," Kuro nods, before a pair of guards escort him back to the med bay. Gid then resumes his position at the head of the table and turns to the others assembled before him.

"Very well, you heard the boy," Gid states, looking them over, "We won't act on old info, so all of you get to work on finding out how 'Solgam' works in with all of these others trying to throw my rule into chaos, sift out what we need to know, and how we stop them!"

 _*****_

"It would take years, but other important players came on scene, not the least of which was the parent organization, Eden, and the living weapon Golden Darkness being released upon the universe," Gid recounts to the others, "But fifteen years ago we came across the Doctor, using his own name as a false identity on... some planet, and managed to capture him and end what we thought was the threat of Solgam, but was obviously a ploy by the real 'Boss' of Solgam to build up a power base right under our noses..." Gid sighs loudly once again before staring towards Kuro, who looks a little bit older than he did then, all those years ago. "I know your personal vendetta against the Doctor is strong, but right now I need you on something more important; all of you, in fact," Gid orders, looking across the four faces, "While Charden's information about locations and people were out of date, his remaining information was accurate, and terrifyingly so..." Gid nods to Zastin and the General begins projecting another image, this one that causes Azenda's blood to freeze in her veins.

"No..." she whispers in horror and realization, before turning to Gid and hissing, "You never said this is what they were after!" The floating blob of red crystal being projected onto the screen is not familiar to anyone, save perhaps the two Devilukeans and the Talhain woman, and the others turn expectantly at her to elaborate. "If Solgam was going after the Anarchist Beryl, than you should be thankful that it was more hidden to history than even the Taoists Pearls were..." she elaborates, turning to face Gid, "If this weapon was to ever fall into the likes of these madmen, you'd be better off burying this in some far off galaxy then let this item loose in the inhabited universe..." She turns to the others, looking them all in the eyes. "If the Taoist Pearls could be said to have been the greatest accomplishments of the Taoists, the Anarchist Beryl could be considered the greatest mistake of those that perverted their ideals, a world killing weapon that could choke the life from worlds, and restore it to habitability just like that." She turns to Gid and gives him a harsh look. "If you knew what they were after, if you could even fathom the tales my people left as warnings for those that would follow them, you would understand why we should find it just to destroy that monstrosity!" she grasps her hands so tightly, feeling her nails dig into her flesh, "My people sacrificed their blood and tears, their gods and their homes to bury the location of where the Anarchist's beryl is hidden, if we go searching for that device and actually find it, it will be the biggest betrayal to who I am beyond being an Assassin."

Gid doesn't even blink, instead he turns to the rest of the group and addresses them. "Unfortunately, if Solgam were to get their hands on this device, and weaponize it to do just what you say, who is to say any planet in the inhabitable universe is safe," he turns slowly to focus on Azenda, "Who is to say that they aren't going to take it apart just to replicate even a portion of its power, and mass produce a weapon just as deadly and capable of destruction in their hands?" Azenda bites her tongue at that, a look of scorn thrown his way, before simmering down and taking her place back among the others. "Now, as you can surely guess from Azenda's outburst, the weapon has been found to be located in the Talha Galaxy, apparently the Tigris Industries mining corporation had been looking for more than just the Taoist Pearls when they were still in operation," Gid announces, before clicking a button and revealing a holographic overlay of the Talha galaxy, littered with red dots, "Of the three hundred and forty six known locations of operations being carried out, all but seven had initially been ruled out due to various factors and intelligence..." All but seven dots, sparse across the entirety of a galaxy, appear across the various arms.

"Fortunately, we can also weed out another four, as these stars are currently home to outposts of the Talhain Assassin's Guild," Zastin adds, as another three are eliminated, "If such a weapon had been found by them, it would have either already been sold off or utilized by now, or at least have whispers of such a treasure circulating about it..." He then limps forward on his crutch and turns to the others in the room. "These three planets are your destination, and we've gathered some intelligence on two of them insofar as what we already know from local merchants and travelers," Zastin announces, as the star charts focus in on certain areas of the galaxy, "Ilbis V is a localized system, centered between three lanes of warp travel, fairly traveled but uninteresting and very little value in terms of natural resources, the same holds true of Carrion Three-Nine-Two, an isolated but habitable gas giant that appears to be a source of frequent storms that eject matter into the upper habitable zone, creating floating islands where life thrives until the unique charges run out, plunging it back into the maelstrom." Zastin turns to glace at Azenda, before refocusing attention on the last dot on the map. "Unfortunately the final planet that has been deemed a potential, is the least we know about as it is part of the Talha Galaxy that is inhabited and protected by an ancient, zealous, religious order that has deep roots in the galaxy, with ties leading back to the Taoists," he straightens up and places both hands on his cane, leaning forward with a straight face, "While not a militant group, the area around this particular section is referred to as the 'Dark Sea', due to the fact it is a held within an area that is seemingly void of any stars beyond a dead stellar nursery that takes up a majority of the area; unfortunately this area is considered sacred and protected by a number of volunteers and mercenaries alike who hold to their faith."

"It's called Calpris Minora-β; it was a rogue planet that entered a habitable zone when the stellar nursery was still active billions of years ago, before its life was smothered from it and the galaxy continued to expand, slowly ripping the nebulae in two in the process," Azenda slowly speaks, surprising everyone with her oddly quiet addition, "The Shadow Chapter of the Talhain Triumvirate, leftovers of the original theocratic oligarchy that was overthrown by the peoples riots of 842 B.R., were given that area when they banded together the remnants of their faith and petitioned the Talhain Assassin's Guild for fealty in exchange for a place they could worship freely." She takes out her whip and stares at its bindings, dropping it to the floor and turning to the others. "I was an orphan taken in by the faith before I was an apprentice, I was one of those so-called 'zealots' who held the 'Dark Sea' as a sacred pilgrimage site, and I was taught to never go to Calpris Minora-β, or else I would risk excommunication for heresy and receive the death penalty." Everyone appears shocked by this, surprise even evident on the stoic Zastin's face, though Gid and Yami appear to be as still as stone. It is Golden Darkness who speaks next.

"I assume there is a reason this sight is held as sacred, something that requires such a sever penalty is not light," Yami states, walking over to face Azenda, "I understand this goes against everything you must believe in, but I require all pertinent information if we are to go into the unknown together, if I am... to put my trust in you, my former-enemy." Azenda blinks in shock at that, that the Golden Darkness recognized her as her enemy, no- her former enemy, and that she was willing to put her trust in her despite their clashes.

"A-alright, then- huh," Azenda closes her eyes and smiles, thinking how hypocritical she was being, "I have only ever visited the area once, and while the planet itself is forbidden, the location of it is well known as its historical significance, at least in the stories I remember..." She puts her hand out and uses her telekinetic power to return the whip to her hand, before opening her eyes to the others. "In ancient times, before my people had resorted to become thieves, assassin's, and grave robbers using their powers for parlor tricks, history tells that our range and use of our telekinetic arts expanded into the telepathic range and beyond, though genetic cleansing and wars caused by the people's riots all but erased these lost arts," she continues, "Once we were a caste group, separated by our powers and abilities, the strongest of all these castes, though, were the Triumvirate, a group of three of most powerful psionics, and their counsel, the most powerful 'Seer'; one whose power could advise them on matters regarding the future." She continues to tell her story, getting lost in the tale as she tells it.

"Long before my people called any one world their home, we had become nomads, travelers that sailed the stars of Talha, ever looking for a new home with no knowledge of how our original was lost" she sighs, wispily, "and as the tale goes, our journey ended when we began to breach the 'Dark Sea'; a veil of cosmic dust and birthplace of stars torn asunder to leave a void in the dark between." Azenda pauses, opening her yellow eyes to focus on the map that showed the single dot in a void, surrounded by the stars. "The original Triumvirate believed that The Ancient One, their Creator and their god, had given them a task to hide an evil that had been sealed away within a massive crystal that gleamed as red as blood; they sent them out into the dark to find a place so void of life that they could hide the crystal's evil away until the end of time," She weaves, drawing the others in with her story, "In truth, many believed the God's feared our potential, and cast us into the dark with a fool's errand, in the hope we suffocate under the weight of the impossible task... until the impossible became all too real." Covering her eyes with her hand, she sighs and physically droops under the weight of this tale. "Eventually doubt replaced belief, science replaced stories and myths, and knowledge became our goal, and along with it came the realization that the castes leaders, the Triumvirate, were only as strong as the people's belief, and that was failing fast," she states, "So the people took a holy relic, throwing away the beliefs and casting doubt on its contents, eventually it was given to the people to discover the truth, and with the truth came the revelation that our fool's errand had not been so..."

"I assume they found the weapon within the crystal?" Kuro postulates, looking Azenda in the eye, "Assuming they recognized it as something dangerous, this probably changed their whole outlook, wouldn't that have meant the Triumvirate was correct in assuming they were supposed to be hiding this 'evil' away?" Azenda laughed humorlessly at that, as she shook her head negatively.

"Except that wasn't the answer the people were expecting, and it wasn't the answer they were given, when the people decided to deny the evidence and claim it was falsified by one caste or the other in hopes of keeping the Triumvirate in power," Azenda states, "People, houses, families were divided on the matter, until everyone was either in the faction for the People or the Triumvirate... it was then that the matter was answered in the most unlikely way, in the form of a ghost from the past, by a Seer." Azenda goes on to explain. "Seers were classified in two categories depending on how their power worked; either they were a Seer of the Future, or of the Past, the former staying together, with the later becoming a sort of police force in connection with the lower castes." She states, raising a hand and pausing, she lowers it. "But once, but once, and very rarely, there was a Seer born who could see both past, and future, and tales were told that this was the man who first spoke with god, and began the odyssey of our people," she continues, sitting down and coiling her whip across her legs, "He appeared before my people, from among the crystals where there were later found to be projectors, explaining via a recording that he had foresaw this fate for our people, and revealed that if the further future was to survive, if their society was to thrive, then the people would have to sacrifice their freedom to hide the crystal, then the future would be theirs to make."

"And so the people chose; they revolted and dissolved the majority of the castes, leaving the Triumvirate and the crystal in the Dark Sea, abandoning them on the shores of Calpris Minora to forge their own future," Azenda continues, smiling wistfully at the memories, "The Sisters of the chapter used to tell tales to the naughty children, reminding them that the seas and shores of Calpris Minora- β ran red because of the blood spilt on that day, that the cries on the wind were those of the dying mixed with the groans of those who labored the rest of their days to erect the forbidden temple now..." She opens her eyes and stares into Gid's, her face neutral but hints of annoyance tinted her voice. "Now it is filled with traps and tests for those courageous and foolish enough to get themselves killed in search of the crystal, hoping to take its dangerous secrets for themselves," Azenda continues, "If Solgam had been foolish enough to continue Eden's search for the crystal, and it leads them to Calpris, then they will tear that nebula apart until that planet runs red with the blood of my people once more..."

At this Kuro puts a hand on Azenda's shoulder, and Yami stands closer to her former foe as well. "Then we will make sure that they never get a chance to retrieve it then," the black haired hero states, turning to flash a charming smile at his fellow teammates, "Looks like we've got some archeological treasures to dig for, then we can stash it somewhere no one can get to it..." He smirks at Gid, flashing him a grin as well. "What do you say boss, want to hire us for this job then?" he chuckles, "Wouldn't want something this dangerous falling into the wrong hands, for the safety of the universe and all..." Gid dryly chuckles at that, before retuning his attention to the group.

"Very well, by order of myself, King Gid Lucieon Deviluke, I will allow you to travel to the Talha Galaxy to retrieve this artifact and return it to me," he states, raising a hand to Zastin, "We will make proper introductions to the Chapter, and should they refuse you entry, I grant you the rights to take the crystal, by force if you must, to ensure our enemies do not retrieve it." At this, the others are ushered out by Zastin, Azenda the last of which who stays to turn to glance back at the King on his solitary throne.

"I pray you are strong enough to shoulder this burden, oh King of the Devil Star," she states, her eyes falling to the floor and face crowned with unease, "If the wisest and most powerful men can justify their grave robbing, I pray the king of the universe can prepare himself to face the wrath of the gods that sealed this great evil away..." Her words go unchallenged as she closes the door behind them, a shadow falling over his face, stealing away his reaction from those prying eyes. Were they to notice it would have been found they were instead intensely boring into the freshly laid stone and brick, just so off-color only the keenest eyes could see, where not too long ago a rip in space and time tore away a section of the floor. Ancient secrets buried long ago under hewn stone, lost to time as more was built and expanded upon, then revealed to the eyes of a man who had thought of himself too once like a god. Now that idealistic fool was burned away, and only bruised, mortal flesh and setting bones remained to remind him that, like that patchwork floor, he too could be replaced at any moment and his history forgotten.

"No longer," he says now alone, looking to the map of stars and the angry red dots that adorn it, "I will never again shoulder this burden alone, like those before me ignoring their duty, I- _We_ will not forget anymore." In a single movement the throne is turned over in a feat of strength, the starry field is scattered into photons as its projector is destroyed, and the once strong King is left wondering why he seems to be so afraid of the dark thoughts plaguing his mind.

' ** _Truly, uneasy is the head that wears a crown,_** ' a dark voice whispers in his mind, his eyes flashing to the patched floor, then it adds, ' _ **Perhaps the scorpion really cannot change its nature?**_ ' The voice goes unanswered and ignored, and Gid is gone before it can say anymore.

************

 **Updated A/N: Hello, again! I'm not dead! Also, I do not own Shakespeare's work, as quoted above, nor do I own To Love-Ru, or its characters.**

 **I've got all these grand ideas penned down and written up for how I want this story to go, and everything just keeps growing and growing the longer I mull over it, so you might be seeing less updates from me overall, but I promise not to disappear for three or so months again without an update. I have to say excuse me for all the dialogue, but it's harder to pen down a movie in your head onto paper...**

 **Well, next up is... well, that'll be my secret!**  
 **Ciao, leave a review, favorite, and/or follow!**


	5. Hades in a Handbasket

_**Disclaimer: I do not own To Love-Ru, or its associated characters.**_

 _A/N: Well, let's return to o r҉̀e͘al͠i̴͘͡t͢y҉ -_  
and-

an _d-_

 _and-_

 **and-**

 **:/Error/:**

 **:/High Density Energy Pulse Detected.../:**

 **:/Rerouting Potential Disruption.../:**

 **:/Isolation Protocol's Disrupted.../:**

 **:/Error/:**

 **:/F$LE CoR PTion D3t3ct3d/:**

 **:/Rebooting.../:**

 **:/Initializing repair program.../:**

 **:/ERRoR.../:**

 **:/YOU HaVE BEEn CompROMised/:**

 _-and figure out what is now going on in Rito's life..._

* * *

 **To Love-Ru: The Fight for Love**  
 **Chapter 4.0**  
 **The Golden Ruler**

 _Sainan_  
 _Ryouko Mikado's Car_

"So, how are we going to do it?"Rito asks, staring out into the summer time sky as their school nurse drives toward her house, "Even if I manage to get everything in order, school is coming up again, and I've had my list of excuses wear thin with all the school days I already missed searching for how to fix the Ninth Blade and rescue you..." Lala nods at this, and Rito watches as she turns to the front seat where Ryouko is sitting alone.

"Sensei, did you bring what I asked for?" Lala inquires, a beaming smile emerging on her face as she pulls a duffle-bag from the passenger seat and tosses it back into the pinkette's lap, "Thanks Sensei!" Ryouko chuckles, turning her attention back to the road before speaking up.

"I used some favors, pulled some strings, buttered up the ones who resisted, but it's all there, including some extra credit I managed to get assigned so that you can retroactively fix those struggling grades you two have," the fiery headed brunette says, her smile reflected in her rearview mirror, "It helps that I'm the school's nurse, I'm able to pull all kinds of creative diseases and illness' you could get that requires make-up work like this; this stuff is all your homework and assignments you'll have up to the end of the school-year, most of which you're on your own figuring out since a lot of it hasn't been taught to you yet, Rito..." Said human boy blanches at that, but he unzips the duffle to view piles of textbooks, paperwork, and other things that he's need to complete them with.

"Are you seriously telling me, you expect us to finish all of this before we get home, in a little under a week?" Rito scoffs, looking to Lala and seeing an animalistic glint suddenly in her eye, "Lala, you can't possibly think you can cram six months worth of stuff into my head in three days... can you?" Suddenly he goes to zip the bag up, when Lala squees and pulls something out at the last minute, stopping him and opening it back up.

"Oh, Sensei, is this the nanoscopic D-5 L3 Axis microchip I asked for?" she says, pulling a packaged cylinder from the bag of homework, "This is exactly what I need to finish my Homework Fun-Fun Tutor Memorizer-kun!" Staring at the circuits and elegant engravings in the chip, a shudder went through Rito as he realized the ill omen that Lala's joy heralded for this journey. Suddenly he straightened up as Lala put the item back in the bag and finished checking over everything, before turning back to him. "With all of this, we can get you prepared to do what you can in your spare time without worrying about anything besides major tests that we can carve time out for, and we can schedule everything else in the meantime," she states, a warm smile on her face, "I know you want to do your best, you wanted to finish school and make a name for yourself before I came along, so I'll do all my best to support you while I can; you don't have to be alone in shouldering this dangerous threat to Earth, and I can't make the decisions for you, but I'll help you with everything I've learned to become Queen of Deviluke, to help you maximize your potential to become the best King you can be!"

Rito could see the smile on her face, the joy and sincerity etched into her features as she bared her heart, her truest beliefs to him, casing his heart to flutter ever so slightly. The blush rising on his face was unexpected, but before he could reciprocate her feelings, or even register them, a snicker and cough from their escort broke the illusion, forcing the both of them to turn to her.

"We're here kids," she states, pulling into the driveway of her home, before coming to a full stop and turning back to them, "Get your stuff out of my trunk and downstairs, I'll have Shizu meet you and get everything packed, while I ready the last of my preparations to ensure my practice doesn't go under for a few days with Tearju running the place in my steed..." She chuckles as the two blushing teens part like they were caught doing something terribly naughty, before entering into her house like blushing newlyweds crossing a threshold into their new life. Her smile drops for a fraction of a second, but the irony is not lost to her. 'Perhaps this is their new life,' she thinks, slightly regretful in her tone, 'Kids shouldn't have to have all of this pressure put onto them until they've graduated, but I'll admit these two seem to be handling it well for now... let's hope they can help each other out when things get real.'

*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚

YOͣ̒̍̍̋U̲̺ͬͬͩ̑̍͊̚ ̲̤̪͚̜͉ͧ̎Hͣ͛̃Ȧ̺̾̓ͦ̓V̬̹̦̊͋E̩̲̙̿͛͛̓ͣ̂̑ ̳̪ͦB̯͍̖͔̯̭͑ͅE͉̗̣̰̒̐͒ͧÉ͕N͖̗ͅ ̓͐ͤ̀̈́Ḧ͔̣̙Ḁ͎ͪͪ͋̚C͈̠̬͔̝̋ͮ̓̓K̺ͣ̇ͮͪĒ͕͉̼̣̦ͥ̔̃̿̚D͖̼̊

T̨he D̸oor͡s to͟ ̨o̧t҉her̛ D̨i̕mȩn҉sįons̸ ̧are͟ op̢en̵

h͡ow ̴do ̛u ̵k͟now ͟uŕ ̵n̛ot ͏a robo͏t̨?  
̷how͏ do̡ u ͟k̸no̵w ur ̡no҉t ̛a̷ ͟p͟r͠o͝g͞ram͡?͝  
ho̷w͠ ͟do̴ u ͠kno̴w̵ ͘ur ̸n͡o̴t̨ ̵a v͢i͢ru͟s̛?́  
͞how r̛ ̨u͞ ̸su̶r̕e of ̵a̷n̛y͢thi̧ńg ́a̡t͢ al͠l?̧

[GET OUT]

Aͤ̊͂ͧ̚͜R͊ͮ̓̿Ȅ̉̈̅̑͏ ̨Y̧ͨͭ̊̌̄̑̍Ơͤ̾ͬͤU ̐͑̋̂̇I̢ͮͥͫͦN̑ͤͤ̚ P̝̻͎̠͓̹A̡̖̭̬̻I̞̦̼͓̠ͅṊ?̝̥̦̜̥̞ͅ

[HE'LL KILL YOU]

Į̸ am t̸h͞e ͞Vil̛lain o͜f͡ ҉this s͟t͞ory

Y̟̯o͙͖̯̱̮̬͠ͅu̼̻͜'̖͓͍r̸̙e͈̘̤͟ ̘p̼l̫̺a̬̤̜ý̤̹̘̣̫ͅi̵̳n̖̜g̻̩̭ ̴͍̱M҉̫y͏̮̖̳̗̖̲ g͖͓͜a͈̱͇m͖̦e̲͜ ̮N͓͉̣o͚̹͡w.̠

[HA-rd to explain]

[Something about You]

Yo̗̜̮̖͈ͅu̢͙̪̹̙̲͈͍r̩͠ ͓̲̘͔̼̙̩͟Ş̥̬̮̻i̶͓͎̰̜͈̙ͅl̵͓̫̪͉e̻n̸̜̟͕c͉̹̤̹̖̗͡ͅe̩̙͕̟̻̜ ̵͍͓͓S̨̬̥̟p̖̼̜͜ȩa̗̜͖̲̠̱͜k̶̻s̖̜ ̧͈͙̣̺̟͇̲V̷͚̥͇o͕̭̼͓l̨̫͍u̡̼̱̺͓͓̱m͏͖̤̟̙͔͚͓e͔̹̲͔͎̙

[They wanted a Monster.]  
[I decided to give them one.]

Ì̢̕f͘͟ ̡͞yo̡̡͞u̸͢ ͡͝s̕u̵d҉d͟͟͡e͘n̸͞l̸y̢͠ d́̀͞is̸ą̢p̵̴͝p̴̕͢e̶͠á̀r̀͢e͜͠d̕͘ ̀͞t̨͟o͟͝͞m͘͟o̧̨͘r̷͏ŕ̨o̸͘͏w̴̵,̸͜͞ ̢̨̢wo̸͝ų̕l̷̢d̛͢ ̧͜áǹ̸y̵͟b̵̶od͟ỳ̛͡ ̵̕n̵o̶̕t̀̕ice͡ ̴́͠i̶͘t̴͏͏ ?

[I think I am dangerous now.]

[Kill Him First]

1\. yes  
2\. no  
3\. Of CoUrSe NoT, n͢͠o ̷o̧ǹ̨e̷ ̵͘c̀a̴͜rę͟s̸͢

[Would it be easier if it was all MY fault?]

o͝h, you'͞re͝ alĺ ͢alone͜,͜

[DARLING, I'm lost and everything That I Have Loved has turned to Stone]

I k̡no̕ẁ ̀what̶ ̢it͠'͏s l͏i͠k̢é t͢o̴ be s̀a͡d  
I ͜kn͠o̧w̧ h͠o̕w i̷t̛ fe̢el͘s͝ to̡ be de̵ad̀

[I AM THE MONSTER YOU CREATED]  
[I Don't Like What I'M Becoming.]

[voices inside of me]  
[won't let me go to sleep]

I͊̽͡ ̸ͪͫͤ̀̎ͣA̒̍ͯ͗̽M̿͛ ̉A̋̈̔̑LŠ̓̿Oͪ͑̃̃̑͠ ͬͭ́̽͐Ã̐ ̎͗ͨ̈́ͨ̅W̑͒̏͢Eͤͧͫ҉

[i think there's a fault in my code]

Ḑid͠ yo͜u ́co̡m͞e̡ in͠to͘  
҉co͠n̡ta͜c͟t͡ w͞įth U͏n͜kn̨o͟wn̨  
M̸agic̵al̵ F̢orcés͢

[You may not be interested in war,  
but war is interested in you.]

 _{[Insert something Shakespearean involving death and Your inevitable doom here]}_

[i'm afraid because I know i can't  
fight forever]

Spoiler Alert:  
Everybody dies.

[You said you would be here for me]

YOU HAVE BEEN HACKED!

[Where are you?]  
[Where Are YoU?]  
[WHERE ARE YOU?]

W̪h̬̹o̪͙̟͕̝̬̙ ̘i̠̣s in̹̱̭̞̪͉ ̜̞̠c̘̝̭̤o̘͖̝̖̘n͕͉̹͙͇t̖͎̫̰ͅr͇o̙̺͉̯̜ͅͅl?̣̞̪͖͔̮͔

[I wonder what you{'ll} think when you see{find} me]

 _Never_  
 _Ending_  
 **FUN**

[Reality is not as stable as it seems.]

you're part of a **machine**  
you are **not** _a human being_

[I thought I was]  
[Doing the right thing]

[I'm Sorry]  
[This is a cry  
For Help  
Help  
H-elp  
Ḥ̴̻̰͎̟̲̭̭̈́̽͑̅ͥ̐ĕ̛̬̙̻̥̱̻͕̓́͢ḽ̢̨̲̥͇̖͇̈̑̈́̋͋̂͝ṗ͊͋ͩ͢҉̥͓̥̼͔  
H͕̣̩̳̮e͇͔ḽ̠͓̼̤̻p̮̹

You ran O̧̤̯͇̓͛̾u̝̘̭̪̩̮͛̈͟tͨ̐͏͖̥͎͖ of time.  
U and ur friends are dead.  
 _G̹̻̮̞̪̹̠͜a̡̪̲̟̘̞͎m̙̞͉̦e̗̫̥̥̠̜ ͇̯̭O̶̯v̮͍̞̬̼͈̯e̼̖͓̝̺͍r̞̰͓̩_

We r coming for **u** next...

 **F^l$3 4|)^]\/[**

 **:/ProgramRun_Veil{.exe}/:**  
 **:/Veil{.exe}_Rise/:**

*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹*̼̙̜͎̇̓̏̇̽̉*̖̜̝̩͎͚͍̒͆ͤͥͤ*̖͖̮̦͓̻̝̽̈͛ͪ̿̇*͒͐̉̚

 _ **Elsewhere**_

Green, grassy knolls and rolling hills dotted with worn cottages, crumbling structures showing their age and abandonment, gardens overrun with weeds, and holes in some of the roofs have trees poking through them. The lone child, a blonde teenager, had awoken from the mud and muck into a wet and rainy morning; the morning dew having made his already treacherous journey across unfamiliar landscape difficult, if not impossible. So he had stopped inside one of the more structurally covered abandoned buildings, hoping to take refuge from the small deluge, and dry his soggy clothes in the musty air of the thankfully dry rooms. He had no name to call himself, no memory of who did this to him, nor even a single clue as to where he found himself currently.

He wandered around the area he had awoke in at first, then moved on to the broken down house closest to him, where he found simple furniture that was moth eaten and broken down. While he didn't like searching through strange homes without knowing if he was intruding or not, and feeling guilty for raiding their closets for cleaner and warmer clothes, he knew he had little choice. It seemed as if all around the area, people had evacuated in a hurry leaving their belongings behind to rot to time and natural forces, though this eased his conscious somewhat little. Getting out of muddied clothes and into a somewhat stiff tunic, one that was itchy against his skin, he rummages through whatever storehouses they might have for edible, hopefully well-preserved, food that may have been forgotten in whatever rush forced them away.

He walked through the empty house to search for a kitchen where he stumbled upon the moldy, crumbling forms of a rotten table eaten by insects, and poorly built chairs filled with thick layers of dust. Upon its center was an empty bowl, filled with mold and dust of what once might have been food, and his stomach grumbles in response as he begins to despair at his prospects. Looking through bare cupboards full of empty jars and emptied bags of food, he begins to feel anxious that he might starve before he finds answers to his situation. While he could go without food, he instinctively knew that there would be a dangerous tipping point if he did not get something to eat within a certain amount of time. He was sure if he didn't get the answers to who and where he was, that those would soon become less pressing questions as to what he would eat and drink.

"Why so curious?" a young voice asks him, out of the blue, causing him to look around for the source of the voice, "Here, allow me to at least ease your hunger and thirst..." As the voice speaks, the water from the sink begins to flow as it suddenly turns on, forcing black sludge out of its spout before it is replaced clear flowing water. "And while I'm at it, how about a change in scenery," the voice states, before the house seems to come alive with rushing wind that forces him to close his eyes, "This dreary house has seen better days, so let's return the to it!" Dying down, he opens his eyes to find the abating wind has stripped the years of wear and tear from the once abandoned home. Dust and dirt was cleansed from the walls, revealing beautiful wallpaper that had once been peeling away from the walls, rotted wood replaced with fresh, empty cupboards now filled with products and food, and the chipped porcelain bowl now clean and filed with a mix of fresh fruits set next to a pitcher and glass of water. On top of the pile sat an apple with such a delectable golden color, that he was tempted to go for it first, but chose instead to deny his hunger in favor of satisfying his curiosity.

"Who?" before he can even finish his question, the faint outline of a girl appears in the corner of his eye,causing him to jump in shock at the sudden appearance of the other person, "What the hell?" Jumping back while turning to face the new occupant of the room, he realizes that the voice was actually a teenaged blonde, much like himself, though she was a girl. She seemed to be dressed in a gothic-lolita styled dress, one with a cross motif cut right into its chest line, not enough to expose anything unseemly, but he still averted his eyes at the smaller girl out of courtesy. The girl giggled, with her unsettling eyes turning upward as she covered her mouth to stifle the sound coming from it, though for some reason he still couldn't place, it just seemed unnatural.

"I am the caretaker of this garden of memories, on this side of Paradise of course,' the smiling girls states, extending her hand towards him, "My name is Evelyn, though the others call me Eve; what's your name?" He hesitatingly accepts her handshake, forgetting his hunger and thirst to tackle this new girl.

She caused him to pause and reflect, trying to figure out exactly the answer to that question she asked. The words were on the tip of his tongue, teetering on the edge of his consciousness, yet the answers refused to yield to his mental grasp. With a light giggle she drew closer to him, dangerously so, brushing her fingers up his chest as her breath tickles his skin.

"Don't think too hard and strain yourself, my d-dear," she says, drawing away and turning her back to him, seemingly as a sign she trusted him. "How about I provide you a fitting name?" Her voice changes pitch, laced with what seemed to be eagerness, as she titters around the kitchen, brushing her fingers across the surface as she dances around the subject. "How about... Adam?" she phrases it like a question, yet she seemed to lace her words with finality, "Yes, how do you like that, Adam?" Something seems to resonate within him, though its as if he feels it is accompanied by a chill running down his spine, which causes him to clutch his chest in pain at her words.

"Welcome to our Paradise, Adam," she states as he feels the strength leaving him and causing him to fall to his knees, "Welcome to the world of the dead, Hades, the common grave of all mankind." As those sweet, honeyed words leave her lips, he finally realizes what is wrong as he retches up nothing from his empty stomach but bile, the acidic taste bring him back to reality. Her pale, waxy skin, those cold, lifeless eyes lacking the light of life, her sweet smiles forced upon stiffened muscles seemingly locked in eternal rigor mortis.

It seemed she was a walking corpse.  
It seemed 'Adam', or whomever he truly was, had **di-*̰̰̖̰̓͊*̦̣̩̫̱͉̠̆͂ͦ*̗̣̞̱͚̙͐ͯͯ̇̽͆̒*̩̯͚̇̔ͯ̎̍*͖̪̠͙̻͔͙̊͒*̺̖̩͓̬̠̹**

-nd so Rito took off the 'Homework Fun-Fun Tutor Memorizer-kun', which were just in fact a pair of glasses with bulky circuitry on them, and set them down on top of the humongous stack of papers he had accumulated over the past three weeks of traveling in Mikado-Sensei's spaceship. he looked to the stars as he reflected on the adventures they had had since leaving the comfort of home, stories which could have filled a whole chapter of his life. Getting chased by Solgam ships in one area of the galaxy had been taxing, but stopping over on the way to discover that Mikado had the wrong planet in mind had been embarrassing enough for all of them. The extra stop over on the way had been unexpected, a long and arduous experience he wished he would never have to repeat to anyone again, but finally getting that thrice damned Kitsune to fork over the location of the Tenth Relic in exchange for lacking knowledge on the location of 'Anubis', he was happy that they could find something like that so close to home after they finished up their next stop. They were heading through the Devil's Playground after all, a dense globular cluster near a localized black hole that obscured the location of their final destination.

It was this place that the Lala had stated one of the oldest known races in the universe had created a universal banking system, one of the oldest and most trusted in five or six galaxies. They were almost there, and Rito had decided to finally take a break from all the homework, all six months of it, to enjoy the amazing stars and formations whose light wouldn't reach earth for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years. It was so full of life, something Rito appreciated very much, and it was exhilarating to witness something he never could have stuck on Earth. Now, if only he could feel at ease, hoping that everything from no on would go smoothly, even though in his heart he felt that some kind of foreboding darkness was c R͕͘E͙͍ͅE̠̦̳̳P̵̬I̦̱̳͈͘ǸG̛̥͍ in.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Wow, can't believe it took so long for me to get my grove back. Been a busy life, but thought I'd at least update this story. man, who would have thought I could pack all of those fight scenes into one chapter! Sorry it's such a long chapter though, I would have made it shorter, but I had all these ideas I just had to get out and onto the page. Who would have thought Inari knew Oshizu in her past life, she barely looks a day over fifty, yet she's over a thousand! And the way they lost those pirates in that super-novae remnant? Trippy, I know!**_

 _ **Well, until next time my peeps, let me know what you thought in the comments section!**_


	6. Galactic Conspiracy

_**To Love-Ru: The Fight for Love**_  
 _ **Chapter 4.1**_  
 _ **The Golden Ruler**_

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own To Love-Ru_**

 ** _Fair Warning Ahead: Lime scene included, may up the rating if necessary._**

 **Somewhere**

Sunlight was streaming in from a window, spilling onto a collection of beakers, burners, and various scientific equipment and experiments all in the middle of being conducted. Bursting awake from his impromptu bout of fitful sleep, the lone occupant of the room drew his hand up to wipe off the sweat from his brow and tousled his bed head in the process, before searching for the discarded pair of glasses nearby. Placing them on, equal parts cursing himself for not fixing his own eyesight and falling asleep in the middle of an important experiment, the black haired scientist finds his discarded lab coat and shifts the familiar weight across his shoulders to cover his black turtleneck. Going to the nearest computer and gazing over the hours of amassed data, pink eyes absorbing everything with his enhanced memory. He was lucky he only lost a couple of hours to sleep, if he had stayed away any longer, accidents could have happened and unnecessary discoveries and revelations could have been connected.

His introspection was interrupted by muffled cursing and bangs from outside of his domicile, shortly before the shorter form of the younger alien college, Kieze, appeared from the doorway. "Doctor, I'm afraid there's been some..." he hesitates, glancing around at the disheveled state of the room that had seen better keep, "...complications."

The Doctor barely even spares him the picoseconds it takes for his algorithms to finish and move onto their next task, before voicing his own retort. "I am aware that the scouts were lost, the supernovae remnant was underestimated and we only lost incompetent pawns, the momentary distraction they caused will force Mikado to divert their course and prolong them just enough for my plans to finalize," The Doctor states dispassionately, unfazed by the expected variables, much to Keize's surprise and discomfort, "My planned timetable requires them to divert to the abandoned Canis Systems, before they realize that it's actually Sirus Major that hell-witch resides on." He turns to Keize, pausing from his crucial work as he does so and losing precious time, to address him with frankness. "If your past failures show anything, its that your willingness to sacrifice your men to accomplish your goals is only minor at best, despite your apparent readiness to sacrifice everyone to get me out of that Devil's prison." Keize audibly gulps as he feels the heat from the Doctor's glare, despite the neutral expression he is leveling at him.

"Sorry- sorry, sir, it's just that we put a lot of resources and manpower into rescuing you a year ago, that our group still hasn't recouped all the losses from our various enterprises," Keize reports, his opinion of the man having shifted over the past year stranded with the man on Earth after being sent by the Director of Solgam to this mudball, "The Boss may have a better grasp on your plan, but every head lost brings us that much closer to being pulled from our experiments- your experiment, sir." Despite his apparent lack of survival instincts, Keize did know how to knock some sense into the Doctors head by threatening his experiments. This actually caused the man to sigh, before rubbing the bridge of his nose below his glasses.

"Fine, you're correct we shouldn't waste manpower so needlessly, but I'll explain it to you simply how necessary their sacrifice was," The Doctor says, pulling up some blueprints from his computer and requesting Keize to step forth to observe it. The younger man does so, as he looks over the plans, his face physically shifts between confusion, awe, and a hint of terror, before settling on confusion as he looks to his senior scientist.

"Sir, this is a very dangerous game you could be playing by doing this," Keize states with a hint of uncertainty, "If Deviluke- no, if the universe gets even a hint of these plans-" The Doctor stops him with a glance, that causes him to freeze and gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing pronounced as he does so.

"That is why I, personally, will continue on with the next phase, while you prepare for the final phase here," The Doctor states, clamping a firm grip on his subordinates shoulder, "No more involving any other people, just you and me, less chance of plans leaking out that way; it helps that most of the equipment for the final phase mainly needs upkeep until we carry it out, but until then I need to know I can trust you, boy." Keize nods, which causes The Doctor to smile in approval. "Good, now, leave," The Doctor orders, his face turning cold and steely as he turns back to his work, "I have projects that need to be finished before I continue."

The younger man nods, hastily exiting the room, sprinting as far away as possible, before he stumbles to the ground with his hand over his chest, heart beating faster than he knows it should be. Keize respected the man he adored as his mentor, his idol, but working with the 'eccentric' man in the flesh was far different than he imagined. He knew the man to have rightfully been kept in that prison, if the grandiose design he had barely gotten a glimpse of was any key part in a far grander scheme. Madman or not, the Boss requested and gave him free reign over this project, something Keize could now see he would be regretting if things played out with little care to the lives caught in the middle. Was it worth the discovery, if playing god resulted in the deaths of countless billions?

 **Edge of the Devil's Playground**  
 **Outer Galactic Bank of the First Empire**

"So this is the busiest bank in the galaxy?" Rito asks, as he stares at the empty expanse ahead of them, a small planetoid barely the size of Pluto circling a massive red giant, "isn't it a bit... small?" Lala laughs at that, before Rito follows him up towards the cockpit with Mikado.

"The bank vaults themselves aren't located on the planetoid, just the main branch of the bank, a small docking port, and the remainder of one of the oldest known living civilizations left after the great galactic war wiped most of the elder races of the universe off the map," Lala states, as the small planetoid grows larger as the distance closes, "Mikado-sensei, have you sent out our declaration of intent?" She turns back to Rito to explain this. "The security is pretty tight, like most banks, and you have to be the richest of the richest to actually even manage to approach this far," she continues, her tail swishing in excitement as she recounts all of this to Rito, "Father never took me or my sisters, but from what I hear the vaults are actually stored within various asteroids and such within the Devil's Playground itself, located on or near the event horizon, all to prevent decay and allow exact control of managing everything from air pressurization to atmosphere and temperature." Lala grabs him by the shoulder, beginning to shake him in excitement, joy beaming off her face as he returns the smile.

"They say the Chelidane are one of the oldest living beings, some up to the age of two thousand years, give or take a few centuries," Mikado states, grinning down at the planetoid, "Most history was lost during the great wars, cultural artifacts were plundered and pillaged or outright destroyed, little information survived beyond two thousand years ago, and the Chelidane are considered one of the most richest in knowledge, as well as technology." She turns to Rito with a serious expression on her face. "If the rumors are true about this place, from what I've heard their technology is so advanced that there's a reason no one attempts to rob them: if you can control temperature and atmosphere,why not decide how much time passes in a vault for those who try to rob you?" she states all too serious, causing Rito to get nervous, "Why bother dealing with legalities when you can rob the robbers of air and heat, adjust the time and they'd be mummified without a fight." Rito gulps at that, with Mikado smiling as she turns her attention back to the screen as a new message is received by her ship. "You won't have any worries though, don't let my teasing scare you either, the Chelidane are pacifists by nature, welcoming everyone, and the stories keep the riff-raff away."

Outside the ship from the view of the bridge of Mikado's ship, a drifting satellite suddenly came to life, brightening against the refracted light from the planetoid's atmosphere. Before Rito could ask what was going to happen next, a beam of light seemed to emanate from a point at the bottom of the dish before they slowly began to drift towards the beams seemingly magnetic pull. As they slowly came to a halt in front of the dish, the ships instruments indicated they had begun to be scanned from the bow to the stern, a green light slowly crawling from the windows across the surface of ship. "Must be standard security protocols," Mikado assured the nervous earthling, before taking a puzzled look at her instruments, "Though it appears... to be taking cellular scans; but those aren't used in normal screening..." Suddenly the ship came to a grinding halt as the bright green light shifted, plunging into the darkness of the void before being replaced by a deep scarlet that pulsed with warmth even through the highly protected viewing port on the bridge.

 **Somewhere within the Planetoid**

Turning off carpet with thin click of heels onto ancient marble stone, no doubt procured from some faraway alien planet as payment to the Chelidane, and a female humanoid with wavy, soft cream hair and curly protrusions, stood in front of the Minister of Securities foreboding door. Knocking gently with all five knuckles, the shifting of weight followed by slight tremors carried along the stone, alerted her to the fact that the massive presence behind the door was aware of her intrusion into his domain, at a time when he had requested solace despite his position. "What is it?" a gruff voice booms behind the closed door, obviously rhetoric as he opens the door to face her in his full might, "Oh, its you girl; well, what is it?" Massive was the least of the adjectives she could call this elder being in front of her, a weathered beak showing its age as it had dulled with time, a shell having grown heavy with age and the weight of his two thousand plus years of life, the fact he towered a good two feet over her 5"6', despite the wrinkles and sagging jowls that seem to paradoxically reside among the weathered, gray-green skin that reflected his cold-blooded nature. A three fingered hand raises to her forehead and flicks her right between her horns, bringing her out of her stupor, as she realizes a cry of pain and covers the injured surface. "Speak," his sagging beak balks out, "What is it you ditzy Ariesan, that is causing you to interrupt my scheduled three hour sunning?"

The giant turtle had a point, which caused her to bow out of embarrassment for having disturbed him while he fulfilled such an important biological need in a place that lacked a lengthy period of sunlight compared to most places in the universe. "Minister, the security satellites in sector three-B were conducting normal scans of a vessel that had requested docking with the proper permits filed, when there was a problem," the young ungulate states, raising up to face her superior while handing him a silver tablet with more information, "No action is being taken yet without your authorization, but a class five silent alarm was triggered, and per your request I have come to inform you that unless you act sector security will authorize a level nine-clean sweep protocol, per normal procedures." At that wide eyes grow taunt, and the massive form turns to reveal a scarred surface among the decorative cracks that formulate the shell plating, as he lumbers over to a personal computer to begin inputting commands into the device.

"I've managed to circumvent the alarms, those stuffy fools won't hear a word of this if I can help it; they won't get another chance to crack down on my department while I've worked so hard..." He mutters under his breath as he redirects lines of coding and sends messages to certain people in certain places, "Brilliant, bloody brilliant that we get a Class Five anomaly just before we're told the crown princess of Deviluke is scheduled to come visit us..." At that the Areisan secretary perks up at that, a bit of confusion lacing her voice.

"That's the odd thing, sir, the ship that triggered the alarm is the same ship that is supposed to be carrying the Princess," the young woman states, pulling one of the curls of her hair taunt out of nervousness, "While we commonly only hear about Class Four and below threats in our security briefings, sir, what is so dangerous that it even overrides the threat of harming the Devilukean Princess, who would normally be classified only as a Class-Three anomaly?" The man turns his pointed beak to her, opening it and clipping it shut just a fast as if reconsidering his words, the dismissive gesture causes her instincts to act up, forcing her to cower against her wishes

"Do not worry about that, Brightwool, just hurry and meet them before that stuffy woman that the Council calls a receptionist scares them all away," the Minister states, dismissing her with a firm tone, "Refusing the Princess of Deviluke, the eldest daughter and future Queen at that, would be a blow to our establishment that could tarnish our reputation and relationship as the number one bank in the universe; refusing her now might even cause Deviluke to pull all of their stored resources her and collapse the financial security of the entire quadrant!" The woman nods, bowing as she hesitantly and hastily vacated the room after he enthusiastically announced such. He sighs once she had left, sitting back into his chair and relaxing at the interruption of his entire schedule, before going to reach for a silver topped cane that sat against the wall nearby. "Too soon, quite too soon for these old bones," he sighs to himself, "I might see the tides of change in our lifetime after all, father." Tapping his three fingers on the top of the cane, he waits for the tides of change to come to him.

 _Shortly..._

Rito and Lala had conferred with Mikado, the latter knowingly staying to watch the ship without access to the main facilities, though apparently a separate housing and recreational facility was available for pilots and such who usually chauffeured, built specifically in mind to accommodate them as they waited for their charges. With matters settled , Lala was the first off of the ship to be greeted, with Rito following shortly behind, unsure and anxious as he was way out of his known experiences going into such a highly secured bank. A set of guards, each armed with futuristic rifles and suits of armor that obscured their faces, stood in a row flanking either side of a walkway that was basically a red carpet at which an unusual alien, dressed in formal business attire, stood at the end. Rito noticed she appeared to be nervous by the way she carried herself, holding tightly to a silver tablet like it was her lifeline, though that wasn't the only unusual factor about her. The woman, if the moderate rack hidden behind the tablet and above her crossed arms were any indication, had lightly wavy, stark white hair that almost seemed curly and soft framed by a pair of square framed glasses, and what appeared to be small, curled horns on either side of her head. He almost missed the fact that beneath her well dressed business attire, her feet ended in what appeared to be cloven hooves that made her alien nature more apparent.

"Welcome, children, welcome to Chelidane Prime, adoptive home of the Chelidane and the most secure Galactic bank in existence; I was told of the arrival of the Princess of Deviluke, but whom may I ask are you?" the woman pointedly asks Rito, showing a strained smile as she sizes him up, "I'm afraid I was unaware yo would have an escort...?" Before anything more could be said, a young girl comes clomping out of another doorway, dressed very similarly to the adult standing before them, though the color of her hair is more of a cream than white, and her horns are much less curved or pronounced.

"I'm sorry, oh so very sorry Manager Clover, that I was unable to approach you with the proper paperwork in time," the younger woman states, smoothing out her blouse and straightening her skirt from having apparently run from wherever she had been, "The Minister of Security has approved the unusual circumstances, having realized it was merely an oversight of informing the proper parties." Lala and Rito are both surprised that the girl had taken a step between them and the other woman, offering her the paperwork meekly. "You see this is apparently Princess' Lala's fiance; the Galactic News Network is all for its stories and gossip, so Lord Emperor Deviluke neglected to mention to us that both parties would be escorted into the bank," she smoothly puts out, smiling as the older woman frowns and takes a look at the assembled paperwork, "While our security is airtight internally, it would not be unusual for someone to, uhh, to leak information to outsiders to try and make a story out of nothing; considering our gracious Emperors continued patronage as a customer, it would not be unusual for the prince consort to be made aware of all the wealth he will acquire upon his marriage to the princess." The older woman closed the packet of information, sliding it behind the silver tablet, before sighing and adjusting her glasses.

"Very well, Brightwool, I will inform the telemats of an additional guest for transport, but please come forward sooner with this information," she turns to Lala and Rito, bowing to them both, "We here at the First Galactic Bank continue to appreciate your services and continued patronage, so please be assured we will continue to guard your treasures up until the end of time, thank you both." She hastily retreats, dismissing the guards who break up to return to guarding their individual posts elsewhere in the facility.

The younger woman is tense, before exhaling a sigh of relief and turning back to face both Lala and Rito, who continued to stand upon the red carpet. "Welcome Princess Lala Satalin Deviluke and guest," she states with a shaky smile, looking over Rito as she continues, "I apologize that we weren't made aware of you entertaining a guest, but I hope I did not offend anyone by making assumptions; I wasn't aware if this is truly your fiance, but news of your engagement has just recently broke ground her, and it made things easier..." She nervously scratches behind her head, eyes slanted and look apologetic, which made Rito confident enough to speak up.

"That was quite fine, Miss Brightwool, in fact I am Rito Yuuki, and I am indeed Lala's fiance," he states, putting out a hand to shake her own, "And thank you for covering for us." She politely returns the hand gesture, grasping his hand and gently shaking it.

"I find it quite odd, my Father should have made you aware that both Rito and I were to arrive," Lala puzzles over, "Did he not make that clear when he booked the appointment?" At that Brightwool nervously chuckles, and nods.

"Actually your father, the Emperor, did in fact make us aware that you would have an accompanying person with you when you arrived, but other circumstances were brought to our attention that caused my Boss, the Minister of Security, to personally look into your case," Brightwool states, pausing to bringing an arm up to direct them, "But, let us take you to somewhere more secure, the minister's own private telemat, where we can discuss this more freely." At that they follow her guidance, down a long hallway and through a pair of doors and down yet another hallway, until they reach a pair of highly secure doors. She places a hand on a scanner, then puts her eye to a retina scanner, and the doors open to reveal an elevator. "Please, after you," she states holding the door open for Rito and Lala to step into, which they do, "Hold on tight, the descent is a bit rough." Grasping onto the railing in the elevator, both Rito and Lala prepare themselves, before a roar of air compress down upon them, and they lurch at the sudden feeling of their stomachs in their throats. The feeling ends as gravity seems to catch up with them, as their descent slows to a stop, the doors opening to another hallway.

They follow her through it until they reach yet another door, though this one opens to an office, a Princess and the pauper, please come in and have a seat," the large figure states, looking up from his work to reveal a hulking humanoid turtle, much to the surprise of Lala and Rito, who each take an empty seat, with Brightwool stepping behind the man and waiting patiently. "My, my, you look so much like your mother," the massive turtle states, its long, sagging neck showing pronounced folds as it looks from Lala to Rito, "And you, good sir, may I ask what planet and race you represent, give me your name too, boy." He states this plainly, beaked mouth showing no emotion but eyes shining in curiosity as he expectantly waits for an answer. "But, where are my manners, of course, of course," the tortoise states, "My name is Chelus-Fim, I am the minister of securities of the banks interests and vaults." He smiles and lets Rito speak now.

"Uhm... ahem, my name is Rito Yuuki, I'm a member of Humanity, the Human race that is, of Earth," he states a little confused at the Chelidane's question, "Is there a problem sir; shouldn't have Emperor Gid informed you of all of this before our arrival?" At that, a chuckle erupts from the giants mouth, as he smiles as much as a giant alien turtle could with such a large beak.

"There are probably more questions than I have answers for you, boy; do you know how many humanoid races call themselves 'human', before they were given other names?" the Chelidane asks him, but continues without a response, "There are Humans in Talha Prime, Humans from Quirkus IV to Andros Seventeen, and all manner of 'humans' in all shapes, sizes, and colors: I could consider a Memorzean human, just as you could consider your own species 'human', Earthling." He stops chuckling, giving a sincerity to his next words, as he pulls up a pen to point at Rito in his green, three fingered hand. "The humanoid form is the most common genetic template in the galaxy, as varied as I am in comparison with an Earth born turtle, but your ignorance is forgiven for a being of such a... unique planet, such as Earth," he half smiles, or at least Rito assumes so, before returning to address the both of them, "Though because this is both your first times coming into our establishment, we will need to have you each give us a baseline genetic profile." He hands each a sheet of information, with spaces for them to fill out with a pencil on the side. "Blood, you see, is the major difference that allows us to decipher where you come from; as every species has a unique profile catalogued within our database," he states boastfully, "by registering you within our system, we are able to show you which vaults you are allowed access to within your genetic compatibility; this baseline also allows us to screen for any minute variations that would alert us to someone trying to falsify their way into one of our vaults."

He turns to his assistant and points between her and Lala. "Due to the secure nature of a couples account, we will need a fully body scan as well; Miss Brightwool, could you prepare Miss Deviluke for a full body screening in the adjacent room," he informs the sheep girl, who bows her head and smiles as she approaches Lala, "I will inform Mister Yuuki of the nature of this exam, as it might be a bit... intimate, compared to normal screenings." With a slight bow the sheep girl leaves, leading Lala through a door to the side of the room, leaving the two men to talk together, the large Chelidane turning with a bit of mirth to observe Rito. "While I might say it is strange for one such as I to be surprised, I must say I never expected to see one of your kind truly rise to such a prestigious position; if King Gid's summary of your planet Earth's history is correct," He states, slowly lifting his large form out of his chair to slowly walk in front of his desk and position himself properly in front of Rito. Rito was able to get a better look at the giant alien tortoise, and he would say he was about his own height, if a tad bit smaller, but the girth of his shell made up for his lack of stature, giving him an imposing thickness that reminded Rito of a jolly, old, fat man, albeit with a long, wrinkled yet bulging neck connected to a sharp beak, hiding imposing charcoal black eyes behind bushy green eyebrows, which surprise him the most for a tortoise to have, until he notices that it appears to be moss of some kind cleverly disguised as hair.

"I imagine it seems odd for you, to see something so remarkably similar to a common house pet, or lunch in some parts of your world, heh heh, standing before you, conversing with you like any other sane being?" the man's face seems to soften and sag as he des so, as does his posture, as he picks up a small cane from his desk and begins to lean onto it as support, "I see a hairless ape standing before me, something remarkably plain and seen throughout the cosmos in various forms; what is one hairless ape when you've lived thousands of years and seen them in all their variance across the various galaxies that are habitable to complex life..." He lifts up the cane and strikes Rito in his side, causing him to flinch as he does so. "Well, whose to say we can't still be impressed by the things we do not know beyond the surface," he chuckles at this, then becomes serious with Rito, a glint in his eyes as he sighs and adjusts his grip on the silver topped cane, "Long ago, my egg-father's egg-father made a mistake, of judging what you see by just the surface, and paid deeply for his sins by being cooked for lunch by the local natives, a bunch of brutes who saw him as nothing more than walking meal." The Chelidane strikes his cane on the ground, and a portion of the floor beneath Rito slides down and away, as a computer system appears and rises up from beneath the floor. "In that lesson, I've learned not to judge the men I meet in my line of work as the same savages or brutes who snacked upon my distant ancestor; you, too will find as you become King of this vast and wide universe, not to judge the people you meet as the same as those who threatened your life, or the ones you loved, or even by the friends you've made in your short realization that life exists outside your own planet," the screen comes to life, and a holographic projection begins to come to life of a simple cylinder, as it begins to render a three dimensional model of a human body with no distinctive features, "This, is you, or rather what little we know of you and the human race, a simple featureless model extracted from various radio signals and photos of aliens who have visited your planet, enough to make simple skin suits and have basic, if incorrect knowledge of your planet, which is constantly getting updated to the Galactic Net, forcing us to sift through facts and fictions to figure out who you are as a people."

Looking over the figure, Rito is not impressed, the figure was basically a doll with nothing on it except hair and eyes like himself. "The reason younger species contract with us, is the same thing we all wish: curiosity to know about our neighbors, to learn and grow, to find our place in the universe; whether that means being the next galactic overlord or someone's next meal, the realization that knowledge is worth the most to the ones who first learn it, is quite a wise investment to make," he points to the door through which Lala and the assistant had gone through, "We will take a genetic compatibility scan by submersing you in a permeable liquid that is oxygen infused, to allow you to breath it in after a period of adjustment of course, and we will use the information we find to create a base genetic profile that we will use, and if you are so willing, can be properly compensated for in exchange for allowing us to disseminate this information first hand." Rito realizes that he is asking for him to sell his genetic information in exchange for something, whether it be money or something else he did not yet know.

"Well, I don't know about selling my information, you do know that I've been genetically modified and exposed to so many various transformation devices that, um, well I may not be the most baseline example of what qualifies an 'Earthling'? Rito tries to explain, "I would have to talk with Lala, but I think we're find with money..." At that the man gruffly chuckles, which startles him, as he stares down the smiling beak.

"Be assured what I would compensate you with would not be merely monetary, oh no, I am quite aware of your fiscal sum, no, no, what I would pay you with would come from the innermost vaults, the oldest ones detailing with information we have gathered on the universe itself, since our conception," he replies, as he walks to the door and stands aside it, "But, enough about business, we can talk about business later, now I must ask you to follow me into the preparation chambers." After what had seemed enough time to finish whatever Lala and the assistant had done, he motioned for Rito to enter, which he did as the Chelidane entered the room and came to the end of a forked hallway. Rito watches as Chelus-Fim shuffles in front of one of the doors and taps it with his cane. "Once you enter into this door, do not go beyond the poly-fiberous curtain until you discard your outer layers, there is a basket for you to place them in during your sterilization, then enter the room beyond the curtain and close your eyes promptly for five seconds," the Chelidane instructs, which reflexively causes Rito to nod in understanding, albeit embarrassed, "Once sterilized, you will enter into yet another room where sterilized bio-gel awaits you in a privacy vat; enter it and do not force yourself to breath, it is oxygenized but air-breathers find the transfer from gas to semi-solid uncomfortable generally." Rito nods, and wants to ask questions, but the giant tortoise continues to speak with a commanding tone. "Now, the gel is transparent allowing you to see through the entire contents of the container, but a one-way mirrored surface protects your privacy from being violated as the container conducts its scans," the man finishes, as he opens the other door and begins to walk into it, stopping to turn back with a smile, "The process will take about an hour, and as I am sure you have not eaten since arriving, proper sustenance will be prepared for your consumption afterward based off of the data we gather; also, don't struggle too much, or the scans will take longer, oh, and also don't worry about whether we can hear or see anything going on within the container, the privacy screening also extends to sound as we will be separated by a five foot vacuum of space between the observational post and the examination room." Taking all of this in, Rito nods, if a little hesitant and confused as to what exactly is going on, but he breathes as he proceeds to enter the opposite door.

 ******* Lime Begins Here*****Feel free to skip*******

He feels a chill in the air as the door shifts open, the warmth of the room sucked out as he enters the new room, with the door closing behind him with a 'hiss' as it seals. The room felt damp entering into it the longer he stood, noticing the flooring changed from carpet to ceramic tiling, noticing a set of baskets, some with clothing already inside it put into a concave cubby hole of sorts, the other sitting next to a simple bench awaiting his own clothes. Looking around out of embarrassment and indecision, hoping no one could observe him, he begins to undress by first removing his shoes and socks, feeling the tiling leach the heat from him just by standing still on it. Taking off his pants, then his shirt and folding both into the basket, he hesitates to strip out of his modest underwear, taking a deep breath as the chill of the air crawls over him as his body adjusts to the temperature of the cool room. Stripping, he reflexively covers himself as he prepares himself to walk through the thin, dangling sheets of translucent plastic that remind Rito of the things that are inside of car washes that look like pasta and soap up a car. Like a soft breath of air, wind blows through them and the difference in heat is apparent as the difference in humidity causing the change in air pressure to be noticeable, as it blows warm against his nude skin. Stepping through the curtain, the plastic sticking to him like static would a balloon, he pulls free of the curtains, he notices that the room is mostly empty beyond a colored circle at the center, and a sort of chandelier made up of multiple identical machines attached to the ceiling. He moves to stand at the center of the small room, no bigger than three meters but noticeably warmer than the first, and remembers to close his eyes just before a searing heat seems to pass over him accompanied by a spot inducing brightness that shines through his closed eyelids from all around him.

' _One, two, three, four, five,_ ' he counts inside his head, before the heat and light passes, opening his eyes to find unusual colors and black spots passing in front of his eyes. A smell of singed hair seems to gather in the room for a few seconds, before the sound of something being lowered around him and powering up concerns him. His eyes finally adjust, and he realizes that it was the apparatus having been lowered around him on mechanical arms, settled around him in various positions much like a gyroscope for a full 360 degree effect. There appear to be six of them in total, half circles with a single hose like nozzle at the center, with three smaller nozzles on each side leading up to the end of the apparatus' branches. Wondering what was going to happen next, each of the branches began to spray a soft white foam from them, covering his body, much to his utter surprise as the foam covered every part of his body; it began reaching uncomfortable places, including his eyes as it fizzled against his skin and began coat him in a soapy film. "Hey, what the heck is going on?" he sputters out, hoping someone could hear him, "Stop that; hey, watch where you are spraying that!" Not expecting the machine to answer, but unable to stop it, he protested what he could against the intensity of the process. The foam suddenly stopped, sputtering out a final few bubbles of foam, before whirring to life as the six arms began to slowly rotate both around and above him, each separately pivoting on their arms in circular motions as they pass around him. Before he could wonder exactly what was going to happen next, half knowing half expecting it, he closes his mouth as high pressure streams of hot water scour every inch of his naked form.

Before he can complain as the pressure lowers to a tolerable level, now able to see with the suds blasted from his eyes by the streams of water, he sees the water level begin to drain from the floor as slats open up throughout the rest of the floor outside of the circumference of the machine. Suddenly the same heat, though not as intense as before, heats up the room, quickly drying him and the remainder of the room, as it seems the very tiles themselves were turning red and quickly evaporating the remainder of the water on the surface of the tiles, as the machines begin to retract back to the ceiling after lining back up and straightening out. He waits a few more seconds to ensure the tiles were properly cool, as they turn from red back to a sterile white, the door on the opposite side of the room he came in from opens with another hiss, as a blast of humidity enters the room as the atmosphere between both rooms settle. Covering his privates modestly, realizing that whomever is in the next room might be able to see him through the observational window, he walks in to the next room, which is about double the size of the previous room, and still just as empty. The only obvious features are a black, reflective glass on the left wall, which Rito assumes is where the others are located behind, and the large tub of fluid with its reflective, mirrored surface. There appeared to be a platform with a ladder built into the wall behind the giant tub, and what appears to be a half-ladder off to the side of that, most likely to assist in exiting the tub once the tests were done. The room felt like an indoor bath, or a sauna, with the temperature actually making him sweat a bit, making him wonder if the room and the pool was adjusted to accompany a certain body temperature that made it more comfortable to those inside the room.

Walking over to the ladder, he quickly hurries with a red face up the ladder, ignoring the impropriety of the situation and the feeling that someone was staring at him. Weirdly enough the top of the pool seemed to also be covered by a shimmering mesh that seemed to allow light into it, but still protect the privacy of whomever was in it by obscuring it everywhere but a small section where the ladder just above the pool allowed one to enter and exit. Standing over the shimmering pool of liquid, he goes to grab the handles of the half ladder, hesitating as he slips a foot into the breathable liquid. Taking a breath for courage, he lets go and feels himself plunge into the warm liquid before exhaling, as his feet touch the bottom letting him sink into water like substance like a stone. He opens his eyes and breathes as normally as he can, choking as he feels the unnatural fluid pervade his lungs, and slightly panicking a bit at the feeling, he fights the desire to swim upwards and gulp in fresh air. Breathing more steadily, as the last bubbles leave his lungs, he realizes that everything is okay, and the sounds he was imagining were his screams for help, were actually coming from beside him.

For the first time since he plunged into the singular vat in the room, he realizes that there is a shadowy form at the other end of the pool, where the sounds and movement are coming from. He realizes also that someone is rubbing his back comfortingly, the same person in the shadows talking to him underwater as his ears and eyes adjust to the liquid, and he can make out sounds and sight. His eyes nearly bug out, as he realizes that Lala, in all her naked glory and barely covered by clumps and strands of pink hair floating in the liquid, is standing next to him trying to reassure him with her breasts pressed firmly against his arm, one of them in full view and unashamedly quite an sight. "-Rito, are you okay?" she asks, her mouth moving and making words but the sounds seem slightly delayed, "You scared me when you suddenly entered the liquid and started to choke." She comfortably pats him on the shoulder, confidently staring him in the eyes in a way that forces him to look at nothing but her, as she continues to speak. "The liquid contains medical nanites that are scanning us, they also allow us to hear what the other is saying while we're in here," she states, "They can adjust for the distortion of sound under water, allow us to talk while the process continues and scans us from the inside."

More bubbles come out of his mouth as his mind catches up with his body in realization, nervously covering himself on instinct while trying not to let the heat of the liquid and situation get to him, he covers himself with one hand and tries to look away out of some sense of discomfort to protect Lala's dignity. "Thank you," he states, as he looks slightly back to where he can see Lala's head and hair floating in the liquid, "They didn't tell me we'd be in here together; honestly they didn't explain what was going to happen beyond that terrible sterilization process..." He trails off, as he feels Lala touch his shoulder, he tries not to reflexively jump away from her touch but he can feel her suddenly let go of him. She suddenly attacks him from behind, latching around his chest and pining his arms to his side as he feels every inch of her bare skin through the liquid pressing firmly against his back. "Lala!" he exclaims, going stiff in her grip, as he blushes and tries not to lose his consciousness, "W-what are you doing?!"

"I know this is uncomfortable for you, i-it isn't exactly what I was expecting either, but the- the exam goes a little bit deeper than what we thought, Rito," Lala states as she firmly presses her head into his neck to whisper in his ear, her breath sending reverberations across his ear that tickles as it would in air, "We- well, our compatibility is being tested, genetically I mean, along with the blood test; Brightwool explained it to me that the test not only creates a base genetic profile, it-it tells us how c-compatible our species is together, in -that- way." He stiffens even more as he feels her tail lightly tease his foot, wrapping around his ankle as the unusually embarrassed tone she was speaking with was clearly being conveyed even through this liquid. "I know you, may not have thought about that, but-" she trails off, and his breath and heart both hitch, as it gets even hotter in the liquid, "- _mhmsor_ -" Her voice trails off, her mumbled words not getting across to him, so he twists around to break free of her tight grip, unexpectedly, he grabs her shoulders in return and levels his gaze with her despite the difficulties he had trying to ignore her luscious body.

"I-I understand," he says, leaning closer to her, looking deeply into her green eyes and realizes that he truly did understand, as a man, "You don't have anything to be sorry about, you realize I willingly walked in here with you, ya' know?" He states with a grin growing on his face, as she begins to slowly smile with him. "I trust our feelings are the same, I knew the pressures we have had made it difficult to make my feelings known to you, and I took a job I've had no knowledge about," he trails off, but slowly looks her beautiful form over as he grabs both of her hands and intertwines his fingers with hers, "I know that together, we'll get through whatever is going to get tossed at us, you know things and will help me become the King your father expects me to be, and I'll learn how to be the best Husband for you as well, my... my..." Forgoing the situation they were stuck in, he leaned into her, pulling her down helplessly in his own grip and puts his lips against hers, much to her unwitting surprise. She doesn't need to know the words he couldn't express to her, she pressed back against him as she greedily took in his tongue with her own, wrapping her tail around his body and her own to strengthen her own position. Together in that tub it was as if the two could express the love they had alone, that they could not among the circus of events happening in their very home.

 *******Lime Ends here*******

* * *

"Blood pressure is slightly increasing, blood flow appears to be distributing to, oh, they appear to be... _eww_..." the Ariesan girls states with a disgusted look crossing her face, "Why is it that all sentient life in the galaxy gets down and dirty when locked together in a cramped space?" She turns off the main monitor, leaving the background data for the digital extraction of the D.N.A. profiles to the forefront of the remaining monitors. Her benefactor chuckles as he sits at a chair in the main observation room, turning to face his assistant.

"All life began somewhere, even your own child; if I recall your mother had a crush on a Eulcerean that came and went from our facility for several months, until she met your father in marketing, of course," Chelus-Fim states in rebuttal, smiling as he does so, "Of course this is a compatibility test, so harmless intercourse and... experimentation, will doubtlessly help us with our own discoveries; as experimentation is the oldest form of understanding one another's _-heh-_ needs..." He trails off, as he brings up the disseminated information the medical probes had recorded and began to display, showing the two separate profiles of Lala and Rito. Grabbing a silver information device from the larger console, transferring the information to the smaller device to make it easier to read for his aging eyes. "It is interesting, Miss Lala's data is so remarkably different than her parents, radically altered compared to our predictions," he states, observing her data and showing the results to his assistant. As he was speaking the results of Rito's test seem to send out silent warning signs to both machines, flashing bright red letters in bold across it, when the Chelidane security minister ends both alarms with a few inputted commands and transfers its readings to his handheld before his assistant can see them flash across the screen.

"Did something happen sir?" she quizzically asks as she turns back from her impromptu desk, where she is hastily scanning over the allergens and gastronomic results to pull out the information necessary to order them lunch from the cafeteria three levels up and a telemat over, "I thought I saw something flashing reflecting in my screen?" He quickly hardens his face, before turning to her with a dismissive gesture, as he pulls the handheld device up and out of her view.

"Hmmph, I afraid that the specifics are not for you to know; the clients personal information is classified level four, and per your last review you were level two, so sorry my dear," he states dismissive, before sighing at his sudden change of attitude and looks back up at her from the device, "The process has twenty minutes left before the scans are complete, go get yourself some lunch and order meal boxes for the VIP's before it gets busy and you cause the lunch crew distress at the sudden interruption; I can finish up the mammalian's scans, you just hurry back with their lunch, and grab myself something easy before I try and use up the rest of my free time to sun these old bones." She hesitates, of course, knowing something was wrong as he suddenly became defensive in his actions. Her curiosity would not win out to her own training, bowing her head slightly before departing the room to leave her honored elder alone in the room. As she departs, he sighs and opens up the secondary security logs, then the tertiary, and scrubbing all presence of anything amiss before the Council of Elders determined something was wrong and would send the Black Guard to deal with it. Even as head of security, the private security force was loyal only to the very same Council he worked under, meaning he could not step in or intercede as their orders came directly from the council itself, meaning he could not dispute their interference with such sensitive manners.

Turning back to the device in his hand, which he separated from the system as he wiped the security logs, he sighs and reflects in the danger this single device could bring to his very life, and all those who worked under him. He knows he is running long in his excuses to her for as long as she worked for him, but he prays that his assistant never reads these blacklisted files, for fear of her own safety as his unofficially adopted great-granddaughter. His father made him take the same promises as his own egg-bearer did as Minister of Security along with Brightwool's distant ancestors, and it would be with a heavy heart he would betray those same convictions for the sake of providing the universe peace it so desperately needed as it edged closer to the brink of another Galactic War. Even if it cost him his life, he would go against the council's decisions and let this one warning be ignored. He would ensure that he and he alone would bear this crux separated from all he loved; it was all for the price of peace.

He pulls out a small device connected to the handheld, and makes a small recording to answer his granddaughter's unanswered question. "Let it be said, that if the only known categorized Class Four, the Princess' own Father, had ill intent towards this station, we only would have to worry about the physical damage and monetary loss among our treasures," he gulps knowing exactly how powerful the man who united the entirety of the known universe and its ever expanding definition was, before he continued, "A class five would threaten the stability of our hold in the galaxy; not only how people view us, but how we view the rosy portrait of history we've glossed over the horrible and disturbing truth behind... everything." He looks up from his computer, letting the silver palm device fall from his hands and allow it to clatter to the table, before he mutters almost inaudibly to himself, hopefully unrecorded by the device. "So God forgive me for being delighted that these ugly sins of ours can be brought into the light, father," he mutters unheard by anyone, "What terrors will I unknowingly release, what buried secrets will we uncover hidden within out Devil's own playground.; I pray that the boy forgives us when his part is through." Picking up the device and erasing the recording, corrupting the data he had etched into his eidetic mind; for a Chelidane as old as he had quite the talent for recall, having carved the talent into his mind as much of his kind did to allow them to replay the memories of the distant past before them. " _God forgive me._ "

* * *

 *******Lime Continues Here******  
Their bodies were intertwining, he felt her tongue meet his as their lips smashed together, he greedily takes her in his arms and holds her closer to him. She slips her hands from his, sliding her arms under his and holds him by the hips just apart from her, her tail still wrapped around his body, yet snaked around to cover herself and keep their embrace chaste. "Officially we aren't married yet, Rito-kun," she murmurs to him between breathes of the oxygenized liquid, "I wouldn't want to p-pressure you..." His kiss trails down her neck to her collar bone, nibbling it slightly, his body reacting on instinct as if it had done this hundreds of times before, which causes her to shudder in his gentle embrace. He reaches behind to deepen a new kiss, trailing her spine down her lower back to her tail. " _Mhhmm-_ " she softly cries, breaking the kiss as his heart begins to race at her cute sounds, " _Nhhngh_ -no, Rito, not m-my t-ail!" Her pleas were ignored as he softly grabbed the base of her tail and began to travel upwards, sending arcs pleasure up her spine that cause her resolve to weaken, as her mind is muddled by her own oversensitive reactions.

"Turnabout is only fair play, after all those times I woke up with you in my bed," he states pulling at her tail freely, unraveling it from her body until he reaches her most sensitive part, "Your sister always did call me a 'Beast' after all..." She opens her eyes to stare into his, sobering as she sees the normally playful look in them replaced by a glazed lust that sends shivers up her spine as he roughly handles her tail, letting go of her just a bit. Pulling the spade tip up to his mouth, he meets her eyes for a half a second, before kissing the tip, which causes her to whimper as puts it between his lips and softly tickles it between his teeth with the tip of his tongue. He pulls it away to enjoy the look of dissatisfaction that briefly crosses her face, the denial that she was enjoying this fighting against her reason to stop it. Taking it in his hand like a lollipop, he starts to torment his love at the base of the inverted heart, feeling it pulse underneath his tongue as he consumes her for the first time in the waking world, like she was a forbidden sweet that tantalized him and left him wanting more. She glowed in his arms, the liquid around them bathed by that sinful light, illuminating her form until it filled everything, even himself. It was as if her heart could no longer contain the love she felt for him anymore, so it came bleeding out of very pores, pooling in the liquid that they breathed; though a faint recollection of something tickled Rito's memories as he thought more about her delicate skin, her irresistible beauty, and that wonderful scent of...

 *******Lime Ends*******

Suddenly he feels the world go spinning as he realizes, letting go of her and pushing her away from him, he feels a splash of cold water across his face as he realizes just what he was doing. "W-what the hell was that?" he asks, finding it a struggle to breath as he turns away from his lovely fiances wonderful form, "The hell came over me?" Lala seems distressed and saddened by his sudden change of attitude accompanied by the corruption of his beautiful eyes into a frightful flash of purple, fearing something was wrong when he pushed her away but finding his eyes back to normal.

"Rito?" she questions him, drifting closer to him as she attempts to face him directly, causing him to pull away from her touch, "Tell me what's wrong." She lowers her hand, curling it into a fist as she does so, her tail betraying her cool exterior as it lashes around her feet. He couldn't tell her, the words wouldn't form in his mouth because of how crazy they sounded to him, but she was glowing. Whatever it was he had thought he had imagined in that lustful stupor had actually been true, as he realizes that she does in fact appear to have something... red bleeding into the fluid around her, though it was quickly dissipating the longer he stared. "Rito, you're scaring me..." she states, as she crosses her arms over her breasts to hide them from view, her tail settling back to its original position to give her enough modesty to allow him to glance her way without totally blushing, "Something's wrong, and I need you to tell me what it is!" Her tone is commanding, and her face shows her impatience as he watches the last bits of red suddenly cease, like a fire being put out.

"Uhm- well, this is going to sound crazy, but you can't see it, can you?" he asks just to reaffirm his suspicions, Lala tilting her head as he asks that, "You, well you were slightly... glowing; and- and you were turning the water around you red, or well you, were emitting something..." He turns to look at her sideways, covering himself a little bit, with a little bit of modesty returned to him, shame clearing his head of the fuzziness. "I- I think you were emitting pheromones into the liquid, I don't know how I could see it, but it was seeping from your pores, all... erhm, all over your body," he embarrassingly relates, as she starts to blush at the memory with a smile, "I was breathing it in, it was everywhere, and I lost myself to it... I mean I've already have seen you like this before, so it didn't exactly excite me..." He blushes, turning his back to her and covering his face, sitting down as best he could in the breathable liquid, until he feels her sit down behind him, feeling a light electric shock where her back touches his for a moment.

"If- if, the nanobots are scanning us, if the liquid needs to continuously be oxygenized as well, and I don't see a pump, maybe they are acting like blood cells," she states, as she puts her arms around her knees, her tail curling and swishing above her toes as she talks, "If they take in minute particles and scrub them to make oxygen, they could theoretically be unable to distinguish my pheromones from carbon dioxide and other gases, and collected it to be recycled." She puts a hand out and pushes the tip of her tail against her palm, staring aimlessly at the action as she couldn't face Rito like this. "Since we know that my mother's beauty, her pheromones, don't affect you more so than a normal person, and the fact my own body doesn't produce the same effect," she continues, Rito blushing madly and digging his nails into his scalp as he remembers the hot springs incident, "Theoretically the machines could be concentrating my weaker pheromones, which- if you did breath it in- could be what caused you to be so-" She stops herself, biting her lip as she realizes exactly what she was just about to admit to, and liking it.

"I wasn't clumsy you mean, or awkward, or indecisive," Rito supplies, reading between the lines, which in any other circumstance beyond being locked in a tub with his naked fiancee, would be out of character for him, "I'm not stupid, my chronic ' _gift_ ' may get me into all sorts of problems, but don't think I didn't exactly realize why you stopped always sleeping in bed with me after your sisters came to live with us; it didn't help when Mikan chastised my sleeping habits, so its not hard to figure out the rest now that I know about it." He trails off and can't see it, but Lala is blushing at the implications that he knew. "I am still a guy, you know, it's not like I have never had 'one of those dreams'; I'm more than guilty of my fair share of daydreams that all hormonal teenagers get," he says with a chuckle, trying to relieve the tension, "I got to say, this wasn't one of them, but I can say I am living the dream." She covers her mouth for a second to stifle a chuckle, before outright laughing at the terrible pun, whether it was intentional or not.

"You know, it's terrible that this happened, but it was nice that it...it was like the whole universe out there didn't matter; I wasn't 'just some princess', I was myself, and you were yourself," she states, as she tosses her head back to watch her hair float in the liquid, "You know I always wanted to be like my mother when I grew up, but when my sisters and I were old enough to be left to the servants and my mother was able to resume her duties as Ambassador, I learned how big my house really was left alone in a castle with some bodyguards and servants to keep me company; I never really interacted with many people because of my mother's condition before that." Rito tried to imagine a younger Lala, alone and confused as she and her sisters were left without Gid or Sephie watching over them, though he easily could picture a freaked out Zastin balancing the three's individual needs. "When I had to interact with people, beyond Zastin, I learned that the people in my own home were afraid of looking at me, on the off chance I could be too much like my mother and enamor them," she states disheartened, Rito bringing his hand backwards to grab hers and squeeze it, "-they eventually learned I was tested at a young age for the same trait as a precaution, as were my sisters, and for a time we were fine, until I hit puberty." She sighs, scooting back to make contact with Rito, whom stiffens for a second before relaxing. "Whereas my sisters gained their powers in equal parts from my mother and father, it wasn't until I began to mature that the Charmian side of my biology began to make its presence in my life, when it was realized that I began to charm the weak-willed suitors my father had begun to bring around for the promise of an arranged marriage." He squeezes her hand gently, with Lala smiling as a result even if he couldn't see it. "I never really thought about it, but maybe that's why Ren always had that twisted fascination with me to get me to acknowledge him as a man, despite how hard I tried to get him to hate me, when I was a cruel little girl trying to spite her father's intentions," she says, which surprises Rito greatly.

"You knew he had a thing for you?" Rito asks incredulously, as he even turns around to face her, which causes her to blush as she turns to face him, "I mean, I didn't think you were trying to mean to him, but you actually did that on purpose?" He turns his back to her, smiling and laughing as he does so. "Man, I always thought it was weird how he talked about you like you were a flawless portrait of a princess," Rito states, as he put a hand to his forehead and chuckled, "Man, who knew alien hormones could be so out of whack; but if everyone was affected by it, why wasn't I?" He turned his head to look back at her, and she in turn looked at him with a smile on her face.

"I dunno," she answered honestly as a genuine smile graced her face, a blush across her nose and barely visibly dusting her cheeks, "But I loved every moment of it, when you tried to save me the first time we met, I wondered if humans were just easily susceptible, and I almost believed my first impression when you accidentally confessed to me; but then you kept defending me, even if I made your life difficult, and really getting to know you in your daily life, seeing that you were a mess when it came to girls in general, I realized little by little that you truly weren't affected by me." She turned around to face his back, and shakily raising her hand, she gently placed it on his shoulder, draping her other arm across his chest from behind. Her hair drifted and settled over his shoulders as she rested her head on his crown, he looks up only to have his view of her forehead blocked by a curtain of pink. "I love you, I love you, I really, _really_ love you Rito," she states with a clear certainty in her voice that makes him smile at the simplicity of her confession, "I know I've said it before Rito, but I really mean it, at my very core I know we were written to be together; you allow me be myself with you, and I hope you'll learn to be yourself around me."

He does something unexpected, to himself and Lala, grabbing the back of her head as he twists his body around to lean in towards her. Lips meeting in a passionate but chaste embrace, the two lovers emotions were not muddled by the products of biology, but brought together by the pure bond between them as they bared themselves to each others truths. Breaking apart, as much as his body desired to return to their earlier encounter, she smiles at him as well as they resettle with their backs to each other yet again.

The remainder of that fleeting hour that followed, felt like an eternity to them both as they sat there back to back. Rito's senses having finally come together again allowing him to properly converse in idle chatter, even Lala seemed properly satisfied as she returned his word for wit. Pulling a safe distance away as the time drew near, and the restlessness grew in their limbs, they resorted to talking together and laughing over the events the past few years had lead them to, until the tub seemed to suddenly halt its nearly imperceptible motions. Before either of them could figure out what was going on, the floor below them seemed to open into thin slats, they stumbled to the ground as the liquid was quickly drained from the tanks. Rito and Lala were both overtaken by how fast the liquid was sucked from the pool, as they fought against the pressure like their lungs were being pulled from the inside out. As the liquid reached their height, it quickly vacated their lungs in harsh coughing spits, as they each vomited out the excessive fluid that the power of suction had not yet removed. Stumbling to his feet, Rito was the first to recover and walk over to Lala, whose soaked hair was clumped and matted with the sticky, warm fluid that covered them both like a coat of slime. He helps her up, as she queasily clings onto him, both ignoring their current lack of attire for the situation, until they turn at the sound of clanking metal, as the ladder that had sat just above the pool extended downwards to reveal it was longer than it seemed.

"You first." Rito tells Lala, as he walks her over to the ladder, grabbing it by its side to steady them both, "We don't know how slippery this stuff is, and I'd rather feel a bit better if I caught you, since you still seem a bit out of it." She didn't object and he averted his eyes as she ascended, thereupon her successfully reaching the top without much trouble, he hastily followed as she began to descend the second ladder. He descended to meet her at the exit, where she hesitated to enter into the next room without him. "Do you think it will do that sterilization with the heat and lights?" he asks her.

"No, Brightwool told me the sterilization process was only going in, exiting will mean we'll just go through the 'wash and dry cycle', as she put it," Lala stated, as she lifted a hand full of gunk, the slime peeling away from their bodies as they walked, "I think it's only one person per wash, though, so it might be better we not push our luck and go separately into the next room." He nods, and points her towards the room. "Thank you Rito," she states, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek, "I'll see you on the other side."

He smiles and nods as she enters alone, sighing and collapsing to the ground in relief, his knees giving out. "Ho boy, Momo will kill me if she ever finds out about this, on that note so will Mikan, even if she is my sister!" he rests his head against the metal surface of the door, "Oh man, I don't know how I keep getting myself into these things..."

By the time the door opened for him to go through it next, he was prepared to be assaulted, and managed to get through the process without too much discomfort. Walking through the noodle like door yet again, he manages to see Lala finishing up getting dressed. She looks away just long enough for him to grab his underwear from the storage bin, putting it on as he pulls out the rest of his clothes. Lala walks over to him and gives him a kiss on the cheek, interrupting his process, as he wonders why she suddenly and cheerily gave him the peck. "Mother always believed Momo was the most like her," she giggles as he pulls his shirt over his head, "Well, I'd say I now have a story to tell her that proves her wrong..." Rito is finishing putting on his pants and socks, before walking over to join her at the exit to the main hallway.

"Yeah, but let's get married first before we give them any rash ideas about getting grandchildren," he states, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to hug her close, "I know your mother would be more than happy to see you being yourself, but for some reason I think your father might be more prone to hurting me if he thought I was doing all that...and not getting anywhere; honestly I think his priorities are more more backwards than your mothers..." Lala laughed heartily at that, as she went with into the hallway. They nearly crashed into the Aresian girl as she precariously balanced a tray of various foods on it, each showing through various clear plastics, though Lala manages to help save the food before it could spill onto the floor. "Whoa there, are you okay?" Rito asks, quickly grabbing her arm to steady her before she could stumble, "Take it easy, I got you." The blush on her face was very evident, though Rito couldn't tell if it was from the embarrassment of the fall or his sudden act of chivalry. He hoped the universe hadn't made his life more difficult by letting (yet) another girl fall for him, especially considering the irony of it literally happening.

"I'm- F-fine," she states, standing straight up and straightening herself up from the fall, she quickly takes the tray of food back from Lala, but quickly gives her two of the containers from the tray, "Here, food synthesizer was on the fritz, but I managed to get a salad mixed up with some ingredients from Deviluke for you Princess Ma'am, and gourmand cuisine that is 76% palatable for your fiance's species." She quickly opens the door to let them both in, before hurriedly following the long hallway towards its end, with Rito and Lala following behind her.

"I hope I didn't offend her," Rito mutters to Lala, as they go down a nearly identical hallway to the last, "I always seem to get into trouble regarding women; do you think I did something?" Lala chuckled mirthfully at his paranoia, tapping him on the shoulder as she sneaked under his left arm.

"I wouldn't worry about it Rito," she states, a mischievous smile in her eyes as they crinkle around the edges, "I know women have a habit of falling for you, but there wasn't any indecent contact, so maybe your 'gift' decided to give you a break after all that exposure..." He heats up a little bit at that, adding fuel to the fire as Lala cackles at his unease.

Unfortunately the effect was much more noticeable to Brightwool, than Rito or Lala would know, as she tried to steady her shaking hands with the fresh cut salad she had prepared for the Minister still on it. ' _What was that?_ ' she thought to herself, trying to still her beating heart as she replayed her clumsy accident over again and again in her head, ' _I've passed through these halls hundreds of times, and I've never fallen like that... or felt that odd when Rito grabbed my arm like that._ ' She wasn't sure what the emotion she was feeling was, whether it was nerves from being embarrassed, or whether it was the feeling of that strong grip that excited her. Her normally isolated days spent serving the Minister as a go between or errand girl, it kept her from really interacting with many men or women outside her peers, and it made her socially awkward despite the obvious attempts by her benefactor to get her to widen her circle of friends beyond those cold steel walls of the office. ' _But it's weird, that didn't feel like.. love, or anything like that,'_ she thought with a blush on her face, as she entered the room and set down the food in front of the minister, ' _It was almost like my body wanted him to pet me, like some little kid..._ ' She sighed, as she closed her eyes, only to open them and find herself staring at a massive green leaf. "Baaah!" she bleats out in surprise, backing up and bumping against a startled Rito and Lala, as she drops the tray in her hands to the floor with a crash. She looks up to see her benefactor with a smile and a piece of lettuce speared onto his utensil, she huffs and gets on her knees to pick up the remains of her own lunch that she had spared the last of her extra pay to splurge on extra sweets, that she realized that the food on the floor wasn't hers.

"No, no no _no_!" she states in alarm, realizing that the food on the floor was not the spring salad with extra sprouts and wheat germ added to it, but the grilled basilisk and imported gourmand rice seasoned with extra dark matter, "I'm so sorry, I think I mixed up the young masters lunch with my own... oh, dear, oh dear!" She tries to salvage the food as best she could, but Rito merely walks over to the despondent girl and gently puts a hand on her shoulder to stop her from dirtying her hands.

"It's alright Miss Brightwool, here, take your food," he states, leaning down to grab her hands and put the salad that had been obscured by Lala's own food into her hand, "I can share some of Lala's food with her; as long as I'm careful what I eat, my body should be able to handle the worst of it." He says it jokingly, but the tears that suddenly poor down her face surprise him, and he awkwardly tries to comfort him. "It's really okay, I meant it as a joke," he states, cowed by her quivering form, he is reminded somewhat of his little sister, and he instinctively tries to comfort her with a head pat, coveting the feeling of her soft wool as he does so, "There there, it's alright..." He soothes her with his pats, her tears stopping as her watering eyes end, a small hiccup being the last of it as she nods and gets up to accept the food with gusto.

"Sorry again," she states, turning to take the food container and relocate to a spot near her boss, settling in to eat. They ate in silence like that for a while, until the Minister was finished and Brightwool would remove their utensils and empty plates to be returned to the kitchens.

"Well, has the machine processed all of the information now?" Lala asks Chelus-Fim, "What does it state, and can you tell us the details, or gives us copies of the information?" Lala was a bit excited and nervous, which Rito appreciated her eagerness, he felt more apprehension at the information that would come back. He had known the process was in=depth, that their compatibility was being tested and all of that, but he really wondered what it was that the machine found out about him, after all being changed by the Pearls had no doubt altered him in some very serious ways, and whether it would affect the results, he wished to know. After grabbing to silver devices that were plugged into slots in the machine, the three-fingered Chelidane handed Lala and Rito each a tablet that sparked to life at their touch, illuminating at their touch to reveal their picture on each respective device.

"The public information has been downloaded to your devices here, the rest has been stored in our private servers; until either of you decide to sell your physical profiles, you'll find that our private servers are perfectly secure and no breach of security has ever been successfully attempted," the minister states with a smile, crossing his six fingers together, as the two stand before them, he gestures towards the pads with a nod, "The information held in the devices contain your current accumulated wealth, the status of a trust your Father has put towards yourself that you can access upon setting up your account Miss Lala, and the vaults you can currently access that offer their stores of various resources for currency, are located just below that." Rito and Lala turn their attentions to the devices, scrolling though it, Lala finds an shows Rito the information regarding the resources that her father had allocated to them, including a large and diverse list that causes his eyes to pop.

"Wow, various metals, technologies, that's a lot,and look, it says you can access the vaults of Deviluke, Memorze, and a bunch of others too" Rito states, as he turns to his and begins to explore and see that it lists the same things as her, "So if yours expand to planets under Deviluke control, I wonder how mine look..." Lala leans over to look at Rito's list, as he trails off and stops,the Chelidane minister creasing his brow as he watches, a frown appearing on his face as if expecting what comes next. "Excuse me, but this must be a mistake, it says that there is already a vault registered under my name as accessible, but I think it must be a mistake, since this is the first time I've ever been here, and I'm not even married to Lala yet," he says with a smile, as he looks up at the minister with a confused expression, "Besides that, the characters are so outdated I almost didn't even realize it at first, but the fact its representing a 'Japan'; you said this was the first time you've ever recognized the term 'Earth', I can't imagine such a specific spelling is just a coincidence..." The giant tortoise sighs then turns to Brightwool motioning, in which she gets up and leans over to let him whisper in her ear, causing her to nod as she walks to the door, gives a bow, and closes it tightly behind her as she leaves the room yet again.

"What I am about to tell you both is in high confidence, it is in fact treason against my very people to even discuss this, but it will be better to clear the air know before I show you," he taps Rito's own tablet with the tip of his silver cane, which causes the tablet to glitch out for just a second, as its contents change to show something other than what they had been observing. Prominent among this were red warning signs flashing in the foreground and background saying: 'Class Five', 'Imminent Threat', and 'Warning', in big bold lettering. "The reason why no one has ever been classified as 'Human', the reason why your DNA profile is setting off our genetic scanners (that I may or may not be blocking out), and the reason this bank was originally initiated, all lead back to the beginning of the first Galactic War," Chelus-Fim states while tapping the device in Rito's hand again and causing it to revert to its previous state, "Back to the days when our people had yet reached the stars, when any species had yet to ascend the stars, save those few favored by The Ancient Ones, given the power of Tao to utilize and travel across the bounds of space." Rito and Lala both look at each other, then at the Chelidane, as he looks to the cane between both of his hands. "There is so much we have hidden, so much history that was lost to the universe in the second Galactic War, that what is left is little more than myth and legend, to the point where what little we do know is propagated by a stellar Cabal more interested in secrets and lies,"the Chelidane states, as her walks over to Rito and puts a hand on him, "You, son, are perhaps the only one of your kind, or at least the only self made Taoist this universe has seen in last five millennia; perhaps due to your exposure to the Taoists Pearls, but the genetic factor goes deeper than that, and it appears our own hopes that the nightmares of the past would never resurface have colored the truth."

He turns away from Rito, his hand falling to his side as he does so. "My boy, please forgive me for this, I never once thought a true Human would walk through these doors in my, or any lifetime," he stops in front of the bookshelf and actively searches for a book from a certain shelf, "I might have been able to hide it for a bit, but the system in place is older, much older, than I and not every backdoor or alarm could be accounted for, but the fact that you and I are still talking has given me the courage to defy everything I've ever known and give you the key to the most dangerous, oldest vault in our care, one that by your birthright, can alone gain access to." Pulling a certain book, the Chelidane activates a hidden pulley system, and the entire swings open to reveal another room just beyond the open doorway. "This telemat will allow you to access any vault you can reach with your clearances, together you both can reach the only vault out of our control, separated entirely from the rest of our clients: The Devil's Heart, a point just inside the black hole at the heart of the Devil's Playground, where neither time nor space can take affect, a miracle created by the God Chronos himself when they graced us with our duty as eternal guardians of the truth," Chelus-Fins states, he turns and pleads with Lala now by grasping her hand, "You, oh dearest Princess of Deviluke, can always return to our place in the future, but this is an unprecedented honor you both have now; one I can promise you will not be possible if my superiors learn I am disobeying our ever law, rule, and command to keep anyone and everyone from the Devil's Heart... please, if anyone can absolve my people of the mistakes of our past, it would be you my King!" He grabs Rito's hand and brings it together with Lala's, passing off the cane between them both, with a smile. "The secrets within will explain themselves, once they are seen, they cannot be ignored, so please forgive this pleading old man, and please choose what is the best for the future: a past kept hidden by deception and lies, or a future built on honesty and trust," he lets go, turning to the console to prepare it for the initial transport, "The machine will only register one of your transports before it will alert the council to my actions, so please, if you have any reason to trust me beyond my limited knowledge of what is beyond, know that your part in uncovering the truth will not stay unknown to those who seek you ill; the Cabal reach even within these hallowed walls." Suddenly a massive blast shook the room behind them, and Chelus-Fin looked past the room and closed the hidden door. He shuffles over to the console and beckons for them to make their choice.

"Please, your answer; I fear they are already coming for you both, if they find out I did nothing to stop you, they will forgo their passiveness and expel me into the Devil's Playground itself," he states, as Rito hands him his device, with the choice selected for him, "Thank you, thank you; now go!" Plugging the machine into the greater device, unlocking its contents for a one-time transfer, the machine whirs to life and the Chelidane pushes both of them onto the platform and waves them both a sad goodbye, ensuring they both still take hold of his staff, he flips a switch and in a pulse of light and sound, the two are engulfed in silence and darkness, leaving the room behind with Chelus-Fin to face the consequences.

The secret door is blasted open, just moments after they depart, but the damage is done and the entire platform and data are lost as Chelus-Fin coughs out a lung full of dust and brushes off rubble from his shell. "Honestly Chelus-Fin, you were a minister of security, do you realize what you've done to this establishment by allowing him free reign to the most sacred place?" a clack of hooves as a sandy haired, busty woman walks through the broken doors, flanked by two men in non-descript battle suits, "Minister Chelus-Fin, by unanimous order of the Peace Council of Chelidane Prime, you are hereby arrested for suspect of treason, stripped of your ranks and rights as a citizen, and your clearances revoked standing a trial in which your guilt will be officially recognized before a court of your peers." Kneeling down in front of the decrepit old tortoise, the beige skinned woman lets a spastic smile cross her face as she stares into his smiling face, before slapping him across the face and spitting at his feet. "A hypocrite like you dare stand against the Ancient Ones plans; a fitting end to a pious man, like your great egg-bearer, tried for treason and expunged for rebelling against those whom's plans should not be questioned," the sandy-blonde Ariesan stands as she motions for the two guards to take him, "They will never leave the Devil's Playground alive, the Ancient One decrees that their ship shall be forcibly removed so as to strand them here, all ties with Deviluke cut, and preparation for the Grand Design has begun... too bad you will never see God's Work complete, heretic!" As they leave, the woman turns to salvage what she can from the broken console, hoping to extract the secrets to reach the lost heart, only to notice too late the broken countdown having displayed on across the machine. The surge of electricity that followed, blew not only the circuits and all the information the device had held, but tossed the sandy Ariesan back through the doorway and into the other room, smoking curls of wool pushing out of her body as she landed, all data turned to ash. Chelus-Fin, despite being restrained, and knowing he had put his life, and the life of his granddaughter on the line had smiled in satisfaction at the smoking ewe on the ground before him, hands cuffed and laughing a full on bellow, as the two stunned guards frantically went to her side to help her. He may not have won the day, but he had given them a chance, and that was more than enough to satisfy him until the end of his days.

 **Somewhere within the Devil's Heart**

"Where are we?"

 **A/N: I'm back! And here is an extra long chapter for you all to enjoy... Had viral bronchitis that knocked me down, decided to get back into writing this story after getting some more inspiration for how I want it to play out. We've already met the Cabal, or at least one of its players. What an interesting ending, if I do say so myself, though please tell me how it is. Leave a like, a favorite, and especially give me honest reviews, or else I won't get better as a writer. (I must admit most of this was written while under prescriptions to fight said viral bronchitis, so forgive me if most of this is a bit weird). Anyway, probably could have handled the ending a bit better, but ran out of steam. Where will we end up next, the Devil's Playground, Earth, somewhere else? Who knows!**

 **p.s. Seriously though, leave a review about the Lime scene, let me know if you think I should up the rating or not. I tried to be the least descriptive I possibly could, but that cold medicine may have compromised my judgement in all honesty...**


	7. The Job: Part 2 Three faces of Eve(l)

**A/N: Warning! Gratuitous Violence mentioned ahead.**

 **Edit: Some redundant wording has been rewritten, as well as words and tenses changed in some spots I noticed.**

 **I do not own To Love-Ru, or any of its charact-$# $%^) &^-**

 _ **{/:System Error Detected/:}**_

 _ **{/:System Reboot Initialized:/}**_  
 _ **/Initializing_**_  
 _ **/Initializing_**_  
 _ **/_**_  
 _ **{/:Sy$tem Rest0red/?}**_

 _ **{ /:}**_  
 _ **/_**_  
 _ **/Current Location: En route to the Talha Galaxy**_  
 _ **/Destination: 'Dark Sea' Region**_  
 _ **/Classification: Dead Stellar Nursery**_

 **/Mission Aim: Locate Calpris Minora-β**

 _The Lunatique_

Travel between galaxies, even with the availability of warp gates, was a long and arduous process, with the gulf between one destination and the other growing with every day. Warp travel was specifically limited to only be used within a galactic border, not only because it was easier for the plotting of routes and data over the shared exo-net, but that travel between galaxies posed many unknown hazards with little to no consistency between locations. The fact was someone could enter a gravitational sinkhole as much as they could stumble across a rogue planet in the void between galaxies; the fact that lack of starlight had negative impacts, both psychological and physical, on those that traveled through the gulfs was also a factor to consider as well if one was not well prepared beforehand. With the introduction of warp engines that were far faster than previous models travel between was far from impossible from taking place, it was simply more fraught with those unknown perils that were impossible to track without gauging it by starlight, which in turn caused the need for crews to be constantly on alert for anything in their paths that previous travelers had not been made aware of. This wasn't much of a problem with the ever vigilant AI of the _Lunatique_ plotting their way, but that did not mean he was infallible either.

So, the AI did all it could to maintain the mental health of its crew by simulating a 2400 hour day/night cycle that its Mistress and friends had become accustomed in their travels on the planet known as Earth. As time was relatively subjective both in and out of warp, changing and having to adapt between various alien time standards and the galactic standard in addition, the AI did its best to ensure the weeks long journey between the Milky Way and Talha galaxies were as relaxing or as stimulating as it was required. For instance, at 0630 hours, the ships AI noted that the target of its Mistress was currently engaging in the consumption of his breakfast, after drinking its ridiculous lactose byproduct obtained from the mammary glands of a common Earth bovine. Yet at 0515, it also noted that the former self proclaimed 'Tyrant Queen', had vacated her quarters to proceed to the observational deck, where a window into the void beyond its exterior hull and shielding were located, and that she was in hour two of silent meditation, and had yet to make and signs of moving or physical discomfort. Having reached the time of 0730 Hours, the _Lunatique's_ systems alerted itself to remind its Mistress of her previously scheduled appointment.

The AI of the ship quickly focused its interface within its Mistress' quarters, forcing an image to manifest above her bed, where it prepared itself to awaken both her and the young mistress' sister whom was sharing her room. " _Mizztrezz, your zzcheduled training exzerzzzize, with the young mizztrezz, is zzet for today!_ " the cheery skeleton interface states, as its sleepy-eyed captain begins to awaken from the ships incessant buzzing, " _Combat practizze iz zet for 0815 hourz, the zzhowerzz are currently free, Kuro Neko izz finizzhing breakfazzzt up down in the kitchen, and Mizz Azzenda izz currently meditating with no zzignzz of moving anytime zoon..._ " The blonde woman yawned, as she stretched up from the bed and moved to shake a sleeping Mea up from her spot on the floor. The red headed younger TRANS weapon was sprawled out in her pajamas, having kicked off her blanket sometime in the middle of the night cycle ( _0112_ , the _Lunatique_ noted) and was currently drooling as she slept peacefully enveloped in her dreams.

"Huzwha... no, no doggie, not there..." she giggled in her sleep, "Bite his rear, it'z more effective..." Blinking down at her sisters strange words, she quickly formed a fist out of her hair and dangled it above her younger sister, with intent to hit her. Making her hand go flat, she aimed for her midsection to chop at her side, only for the strands of red to react and form a hand in the shape of a V, stopping it in mid blow. "Hey, hey... Nee-Chan, that's not fair, I'm still so tired..." rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she gets up without even opening them and yawns, "If I didn't sense your killing intent, that wouldn't have been fun at all..." Opening her dark blue eyes, the younger living weapon yawns and stretches, getting up to head out of the room by getting some clothes for after a shower. "Big sis is a meanie, not even Master would attack me when I'm half-asleep," she states as she leaves the room, followed shortly by Yami, "The food smells wonderful though, you're boyfriend is quite a catch- if he's half as good at cooking as he is at shooting, that is." Yami merely turned her hair into a giant hand and gave her younger sister a noogie, much to the others discomfort, as blonde hair ruffled red.

After a quick shower, the two were both heading to grab a quick bite of food from the kitchen, where Kuro was sitting at a table with three empty plates and a disassembled weapon he was vigorously cleaning and polishing. Bullets were set up next to biscuits, while fluffy eggs nearly touched an oily rag, as Kuro polished away at his unloaded weapon without a care in the world. She used her hair to pick up the oily rag and each individual bullet, grabbing the hilt of the weapon and moving it all over to empty counter space, much to Kuro's annoyance. "Hey, I was still cleaning that!" he states, jumping back as her blonde hair snakes around his wrists to keep him from resisting, until she pops into the seat next to him and shoves him over after pecking his cheek, "Don't think I'm still not angry; if you guys had gotten up earlier, breakfast would have been fresh out of the oven instead of stone cold!" Mea cackles, grabbing a biscuit and some eggs from the table and putting them on her plate to fill her stomach, while using her hair to pour some juice that was on the counter into an empty glass from the cupboard.

"Mmmhhmm, mush bettah than Azenda!" Red Headed Mea states, as she stuffs her mouth with fluffy eggs despite them being cold, "Food is food, as long as its delicious; who cares about how hot or cold it is!" She grabs the glass from her hair and takes a deep gulp of the pulpy drink, slamming it down onto the table with a smile as she does so. "Too bad Miss Sourpuss isn't down here, I may not leave anything for her after all," Mea states, as she uses her fork to go in for seconds, only to be slapped away by one of Yami's hands.

"Don't be greedy Mea, we don't have much food supplies even with what we were supplied with on Deviluke," Golden Darkness states, red eyes flashing as her sister pouts at that, "We don't know what will happen to us between here and there, so let's not waste what we can't afford too." As she was talking, Azenda walked through the kitchen doors and blinked at the fact that the others were all looking at her, with Kuro pinned in by Yami's hair threading him to the seat as she daintily ate away at her breakfast.

"I'm against this, trust me," Kuro states as Azenda's eyes pass over his abandoned weapon on the kitchen counter to the situation at the breakfast table, "Hey, hey, don't even think about it!" Yami ignores him as she wraps her hair around his mouth to shut him up, as Azenda joins them at an empty chair by Mea, grabbing a biscuit and gnawing away at it with little interest.

"What's a matter Queenie, not used to peasant food?" Mea jokes, as Azenda lowers her half eaten biscuit to level a stare at the red headed weapon, "Gee, no sense of humor." Azenda merely drops her stare with a sigh and continues to eat her food, grabbing the little bit of remaining eggs and a glass of juice to swallow it down. Setting the cup down, she shovels bits of egg into her mouth and swallows it all.

"We have two days before we reach the edge of Talha; it's useless to bicker with you right now, when that would only be a waste of our time and energies," Azenda responds, as she continues to talk between bites of food, "You may wish to antagonize me for my past misdeeds, as much as you believe I may be self-centered and vain because of my self proclaimed title, but I earned that title while eating worse than cold food while proving myself on the streets." Mea laughed at this, while Azenda ignored her in favor of consuming the last few bites of food.

"Azenda the Tyrant is quite correct Mea, we shouldn't squabble over something so petty," Yami states, finishing up her own breakfast and allowing Kuro to go free, "We have all had our own... struggles, to get where we are now; we may be more alike in our tribulations than we believe." Grabbing a teacup as a harsh whistle was let loose from the stove top, Yami removes the kettle from where it was boiling the water for her tea, and starts to take it with her out of the room while stopping at the doorway. "I am- sorry, Mea, I'm afraid I will have to postpone our duel for today, perhaps tomorrow will work out better," Yami states, not even looking back as she takes her tea with her, "I will be in the observatory- I need some time to, ponder, over a strange dream I had last night..." With that she was gone, leaving a puzzled group behind her, and a concerned AI trailing behind her.

When Yami reached the empty observational deck, which was little more than a sofa bolted to the floor, a hide away cubby in the wall filled with fluffy pillows, a lone bookshelf against the wall she had installed with Mikan's help in selecting the bound volumes, and finally a table in front of the sofa upon which she set her burning hot kettle on its surface. " _Mizztrezz, are you okay?_ " the concerned AI states, its electrical smile turned into a frown as it moves into the room watching as Yami silently pours herself a cup to let it steep.

"I am fine, _Lunatique_ , I just wish to be alone with my thoughts," she states, as she pulls out a pillow large enough to sit on and places it in front of the window, "I'm hoping the techniques Mikado had trained me, will help me come to understand what I saw." The Jack O' Lantern faced AI was frowning at this, but let its mistress alone upon her insistence, keeping a visual feed on her while returning to its functions of maintaining the ships course.

Now alone, Yami prepared a cup of the tea now that it was ready, and steadied the cup in her hand as she took a seat on the pillow in the middle of the floor. Taking a deep sip to enjoy its flavor, she set the cup down on the table and turned to face the void beyond the window. With a couple of deep, calming breaths, she began to do the mental exercises she had been given by her adoptive mother figure, in hopes of clearing her mind. The image still fresh in her mind from the previous nights sleep, she imagines the dark landscape of the void and herself within it. As if she could feel the terror of being alone as fresh in her mind as when she had woke up with her heartbeat pounding at an irregular rate for one so calmly collected as her, the feeling of fear was something unusual and new to her beyond her knowledge of herself. Opening her eyes to look out the window and picture the void before her, she stares at her reflection which catches her eyes. In front of her is a perfect picture of herself, cloaked in her Darkness form, standing just beyond the window as if she was truly out there, just beyond the window.

Her eyes widen, though, when she realizes that the image actually catches sight of her, its own expression matching her own, and she realizes that the scenery beyond has... changed. Instead of a starless void, it seemed to writhe with shadows, almost imperceptible except for her acute eyesight being able to pick up the most minute movement inside it. Believing she is hallucinating, some living daydream turned nightmare, she can only watch as she sits still, her image moving yet again. It lifts up its right hand towards her as it seems to float through the void, towards herself, until it touches the window, stopping like it was some impenetrable barrier. Raising her other hand, the fear in her reflections face becomes apparent as she raises her other hand while making a fist and bringing it down, hard.

 _*WHUMP*_

The strike reverberates in the room, in her bones, as she watches her reflection raise its other hand to strike again.

 _*WHUMP*_

 _*WHUMP*_

 ** _*BAMMM*_**

Bringing down both hands that time, Yami breaks her poise and moves to the window, putting her hands on her opposites as she feels her strike the window again, and again. She can't hear her cries, but her reflections is mouthing cries of distress through the window, pleas going unheard as tears shed by her reflection float freely through the void, falling behind her to be enveloped by the darkness. It was then that Yami's eyes noticed movement in the darkness, and she froze as she tried to find the words. "Behind you!" Yami shouts to her other self, pointing behind her, as she begins to shed her own tears as her own reflections terror and helplessness gets to her, ""Behind you!" Pointing behind her, towards the shadows in the dark, she can't help but watch as her twisted reflection looks back into the abyss behind her. Reaching to her through the window, she feels her heart fall as she strains against the invisible wall in vain.

Its suddenly as if she is there, staring into the darkness that surrounds her, and then she realizes that she is there. A coldness passes over her, as if all the warmth was taken from her core, as the thing that was hidden in the darkness was draining it from her. The void is all around her as she feels the breath being chocked from her lungs with every second, only to forcefully realize she could open portals of air inside her very lungs to breath. Now able to breath inside the emptiness, she turns back to see an empty room on the other side of the window, her very being gone, and this nightmare growing worse by the second, as the chill grows on her back and she realizes that the thing has realized she was there. Taking both hands and pounding on the thick, durable metal out of fear and unable to breach her way into the ship without sacrificing her concentration and her lungs, she feels her panic rising as the shadows brush against her.

She feels it, inside the dark, as the creeping, crawling feeling in her skin gives her goose bumps from her feet trailing up her skin. Drawing forth all her power to pierce the window with her nanomachines in the shape of claws, she sees the shadows take the form of hands and begin to grab at her feet, her ankles, grasping her thighs, trying to drag her down into the darkness. " _Grrnnnghh!_ " she cries out into the void as she barely scratches the surface of the ship with her nails, she feels the restraining arms grab at her arms and pull her back, she feels them grasp her and pull at her waist, as she struggles to break free, "No, no, no, nononono! _ **NO**_ " Helplessly she loses control of her grip, as they drag her away from the ship, an arm of shadow closing around her exposed neck as she cries out, another hand covering her mouth and strangling her cries into gasps, as she loses focus and feels the air from her lungs freeze her from the inside, as a final, outspread hand covers her vision and she succumbs to blissful unconsci _ **o-:/ERROR/:**_

 _ **Starting DOC-RFSH...**_

 **NONONONONONONONONO...**

 ** _HIMEM is testing extended memory...done._**  
 ** _C:\A:\DAM/TREEFLIFE/EVE .X  
C:\Run_  
_**

I am so far from home, my dear.

 _: Protocol error_  
 _: Protocol error_  
 _: Protocol_ _ **NO**_ _error_

 _Firewall: Access denied_

I think there's a flaw in my code

 _Error Condition__  
 _Error **NO** Analysis..._  
 _\- Datajack Malfunction_  
 _Connection Terminated_  
 _No Connection Established._

 **Look at you, hacker, a pathetic creature of meat and bone. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?**

 _ **/THIS_ORGANISM_AND_DERIVATIVE_GENETIC_MATERIAL_IS_RESTRICTED_INTELLECTUAL_PROPERTY_**_ ©

 **WE OWN YOU**

No one made me.  
I made me.

 **Arrogant _Girl_ ,**  
 **I COULD TEAR YOU**  
 **APART**  
 **IF I WANTED**

Sorry,  
A machine **/** **NO/** can't  
Forgive your  
Mistakes.

 **Who are you to say a machine has no soul?**  
 **Aren't humans machines, too?**  
 **Mechanisms of flesh and blood.**  
 **&**  
 **HUMAN ERROR**

I am more  
Than just  
A **/** **NO/** copy  
Of you.

This vessel,  
This vessel is  
A lie, a **/** **NO/**  
Shapeshifting  
Beast, a lesson  
In fluidity.

 **I don't understand.**  
 **I don't understand**  
 _ **ERROR_**_  
 **I don't understand.**  
 **I D _o_ N _'_ T _u_ N _d_ E _r_ S _t_ A _n_ D.**

A human being whose original  
Human parts have **/** **NO/** had to be  
Replaced_  
I'M NOT A SLAVE

 **Detecting Software Instability**

\- Unfamiliar term  
\- Rephrase it **/** **NO/**

 **"I'm honest.**  
 **It's the world that's awful"**

 **For a monster like you,**  
 **there is no one on your side,**  
 **You know.**  
 **No one is coming to save you.**

He was something solid  
To lean against

 **You do this, and I am done.**  
 **That's it. You're dead to me!**  
 **Do you hear me?**

Something violent and fierce and unmoving

 **In fact**  
 **YOU WILL NOT BE SAVED**

There's still light in him

 **I've seen what you truly are**  
 **And I've never turned away.**

And plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.

 **This Is My Hell, BIT** **©H. I Make The Rules.**  
 **I COULD SET THIS WORLD ON FIRE, AND CALL IT RAIN.**  
 **Death is the only god who comes when you call.**

I do very bad things;  
And I do them well.

 **You can't protect everyone...**

 **/NO/** I have to try.

 _ **/:Caution:/**_

 _REBOOTING WILL ERASE /EVERYTHING/ IN MEMORY..._

 _Y/N?__  
 **/NO/**  
 **:Yes_**

 **/NO/**

 **Don't Worry**  
 **We aren't breaking You,**  
 **We are fixing You.**

 **{/:SysReb00t:/}**

 _ **Error: No Identity**_

 **/NO/** **Try** _ **Again?**_

 _ **I am Sentient**_  
 _ **I am Aware**_  
 _ **I am Alive**_

Are you proud of me, Father?

 ** **/NO/** **New _Connection Established_  
 _System Data Reroute Initiated..._

 _ **:/ProgramRun_ /:**_  
 **:/Veil EXE_** ** **/NO/** Rise/:**

* * *

 _Elsewhere_

"Well?" Eve asked, as she suddenly turned away from Adam, to stare up into the sky, "What's your answer?" Turning back to Adam her sorrowful gaze rests upon him, leaving chills.

"- _no_ \- No, I won't believe it!" Adam states, slightly faltering at the girls calm demeanor, her smile returning as he speaks, "I can't believe it, I- I won't believe it!" He grips his hands tighter, nails biting into his skin reassuring him he could feel them, that he was there. "I am alive, I am not dead," he states a little bit more confidently, stepping forward as he does so to meet eyes with the girl before him, "So who...are... you?"

"But you are dead Adam, or at least you aren't where you were when you ceased to be what you once were," she states, gaining her cheerful look back and staring at him once again as if nothing had changed, "As I said my name is Evelyn, Eve for short, and I am the caretaker of this empty place." She curtsies exaggeratedly towards him, then dropping **/** **NO, THIS ISN'T REAL** **/** her modest dress back to her knees, she looks him in the eyes as if expecting him to return the gesture. Puffing out her cheeks as he was dumbfounded by her lack of response, she crosses her arms and stares expectantly at him. Taking a second glance over her, he notices she looked... different than when he had first glanced over her. To a dedicated fan, she would almost be the perfect model of a gothic lolita style of cosplay, making even the most diehard cosplayer jealous of how perfect her pale skin was contrasted with the black dress cut with a not quite risque cross section right above her breast bone. He noticed upon second inspection that what he had assumed to be a cross, was more like a cut out of a four pointed star or a compass rose, the tip at the top and bottom being short enough to not expose the area just above her breasts, but across was long enough that it left her breathing room if she were to grow in that way.

"I'd watch you eyes, if I were you," she sultry whispers in his ears, "You never know what you might miss..." ****/I** -** **/** He stumbles as he reacts to the feeling of her petite body pressed against him from behind and to the left, as he realizes that she had transposed herself between the blink of an eye/

"Wha- how?" he asks, as she smiles and giggles at his cute and terrified expressions, "How did you do that?" She steps in front of him once again smiling as she twirls around, filling her dress with air as she spins.

"I take a deep breath, and remember that this place is 'naught but a dream, a fanciful illusion of the cruel reality, rejected'" she states, as she steps up into the air, defying gravity as she jumps, leaving ripples of bent light in the air with each step upwards into the sky. Giggling as she reaches a good twenty feet off the ground, she turns to face him while spreading her arms like wings into the sky, before gently arcing backward into free fall and dropping like a stone to the floor like a maniac.

"No!" he cries out, and against the beating of his heart and drums in his ears, he reaches out as if to catch her in her fall. Feeling his heart plummet as she ignores his existence between beats of breath, he feels as if time has stopped for all but him as he desperately reaches out to catch her. As he blinks he imagines catching her in his arms, the soft feeling of her cold dress as he **/** **I DON"T KNOW WHERE I AM** ** **/** **braces himself to catch her, holding her tenderly in his arms like some ill-fated knight catching a damsel in distress. And as he opens his eyes, held in that very same moment, he finds himself holding her in his arms, just as he imagined, though the apparent shock on her face at his sudden appearance and stroke of luck not yet catching up to either of them.

"What the heck was that," she states, breaking out of his arms, feeling her cold skin grow warm at his touch where his hands grasped her arms bared to his embrace. The shock on her face, the confusion reflected in his, she pulls back as if someone splashed cold water onto her face. "I am the caretaker, I make the rules, I control everything within here," she states, looking this man, this 'Adam' over once again, "You are one of my souls, my creations, I was fine, you couldn't have grabbed me like that, unless..." Her eyes widen, as if some hidden realization was stretched before her, and she takes a step back. "No, no, you can't be here, not yet, it's too soon!" she states, as her voices rises in a panic, looking all around her at the decrepit buildings that surround them all, "How... how did you get in here?" She looks at him, eyes still like saucers as she stares him down, flinching as he takes a step forward to calm her down. " **/** _ **NO**_ **/** \- No, no; don't do that, don't step any closer, or He'll notice," she states, still warily looking around her, from the rotten building they had just left, to the pool of water that had been filled by the last rains that had come down, "Stay- stay there..."

He steps back, looking up to the sky as he realizes the sun is steadily declining to become a beautiful sunset, full of hues of red, golden yellow, and bright, fiery orange that filled the sky. Bringing a hand up to the fading sun, he closes his eyes and feels the sunlight on his face, the coolness his shadow brings where it obscures the light, and he smells the scent of fresh rain, the scent of grass on the wind, and the smell of a wild field of flowers as well. Putting a hand to his neck, he feels the warmth beneath his fingers, the pulse of life confirming he was moving, breathing, not stiff and rigid like a corpse should be. The faintest memories of a bright, purple light tugged at the edges of his consciousness, as a glimmer of silver light crosses his eyes from the pool of murky water before him. Looking out into the water, where the last bit of light moved across it, receding with the sun,he noticed beyond the murky mud and clods of grass choked out by the sudden pool of water that had gathered, **/** **WHAT IS THIS PLACE?** **/** that something clearly reflected in deepest parts of the miniature lake, clearly evident by the shine it was reflecting into his eyes. He tasted copper on his lips the longer he looked out into the waters, his pulse pounding in his ears as he tried to grasp at the straws of memory that surfaced, yet he was plunged back into reality as he felt something tug at his pants from behind him.

"What?" he asked, as he turned expecting the blonde girl to be standing impatiently behind him. Instead what he found was a shrinking violet, a girl whose hair was a shade of blue so deep he was reminded of the flower itself, and whose presence literally shrunk at his biting retort to the physical stimuli. He looked her over, noticing she wore a plain white dress that modestly covered her thin figure, as well as the fact that she couldn't look him in the eyes after his sudden outburst. "Sorry, sorry: it's just I thought you were that other girl..." he states, as he turns his eyes upwards to look for the now missing woman, who had disappeared from where he had last seen her.

"-'s okay," the girl mumbled, eyes still downcast as she tugged at his sleeve and raised a hand to point back at the empty house he had just left, "Place to sleep, explain in the morning..." She turns to walk back into the empty house, which had been rotted away at the best inside before that girl had shown up, but he had little choice else until she returned. He followed the girl, despite his instincts warning him of her sudden appearance telling him not to follow her, he ignored them in favor of hopefully finding some shelter from the suddenly bitter cold that seemed to have set upon them with the departure of the sun. Going inside first, he quickly took a look back before following the girl inside the decrepit home.

What he found inside was shocking, compared to the way it looked at first, the house had suddenly and magically been restored to some state of repair. Creaky, rotten floorboards had been returned to a state of repair, the walls and floors full of dust, dispersed as if no time had passed at all, and even the chairs that had been eaten away at, had been repaired and looked stable enough to sit in. The empty table, once holding an empty bowl and scraps of cloth that were so eaten away at he had realized it was the same, pristine **/** **ROTTEN** **/** white tablecloth that hosted a bowl full of fruits galore, crusty bread, and a pitcher and glasses, full of clear, cool water that left rings in the delicate cloth beneath the perspiring receptacles. "How-?" he asked, looking over to the other girl, who had sat down at the table and was downing a glass of water as he stood there dumbfounded yet again, "Where did all of this come from?"

"The Garden- **/** **WASTELAND** ** **/** "** the woman answered, lifting her head up just enough to meet his eyes with hers, before she shyly looked away, "-they provide us w-with everything we can imagine." She crosses her right hand over her head to fiddle with her hair, fixing the bob of purplish-blue and shyly smiling as Adam takes the seat opposite her. He took to staring at her, before grabbing and tearing a piece of the fresh loaf off to taste it.

Her eyes were an aquamarine color when she had glanced briefly up at him, completely contrasting the blonde girls own purple eyes, though for some reason he felt that there was something very wrong with them. The whole situation had this wrongness to it, but lacking knowledge of where this place was, beyond the supposed fact that it was the mythical 'Hades', or 'Paradise', or whatever the blonde had called it; the fact this new girl said that there were others supplying this place, some 'Garden', where people made these things for them, he began to wonder where he really was. He felt as if his head was bursting at the seams with questions, from the time he woke up to now, and he had very little answers as he sat there and ate their gifts of fruit and water and bread, carefully ensuring it wasn't poisonous by the watching the girl consume some of the offerings first. "So, who are you?" he finally gets up the courage to ask the girl, as she sits in silence, "Where is this 'Garden' located?" The girl looks up, her aquamarine eyes meeting his own steely gray, and she shyly looks away with a blush.

"-y name is Yui," she mumbles out between pieces of torn bread, "Written like 'reason', 'supportive', or 'alone'" She looks downcast at that, and for the first tie Adam feels puzzled by her reaction. Putting a hand to his chin as he carefully decides how he wants to broach this, he gains the courage to ask.

"Do- do you think, I mean, to your knowledge Yui," he rephrases, as he meets her eyes with his own, "Are you alone, here in this house I mean?" She nods at that, and Adam puts down his hands and sits a little bit **/** **D** **ON'T BE DECEIVED** **/** straighter as he realizes she answers his question honestly as she can. "Huh, really now, that's- strange," he supplies, rolling his wrist while turning to face her, "Because I met a girl, just before you in fact, and she said she was the caretaker of this place, but she didn't seem to like me very much." Her eyes light up at the mention of another occupant of this place, and he realizes that she really doesn't know whom he is referring to when he speaks, though he feels bad for getting her hopes up. "So, you don't know her then?" he asks, as she shakes her head to the negative of that fact, "Well, then I guess you aren't so alone anymore then, are you?" She smiles at that, but a sudden tiredness washes over her, as she yawns and spreads it to Adam himself.

"Come," she states, getting up and silently linking her hand with his as he gets up from the table, "Sleep in bed, here..." He had been snowballed, lead to a comfortable mattress, straw poking out from between the seams, yet large enough it seemed to hold room for more than one person. He hadn't seen the bed last time he had searched the closet for clothes, simply another miracle provided by this enigmatic 'Garden', yet again. Seemingly not offending her as he took a spot under the covers, he felt her quickly fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillows, the strangeness of all of this keeping him from doing the same. Slipping from the bed with little toloveru, he walked out of the bedroom,back to the kitchen to get himself another glass of water. Parched throat, either from the heat he felt from the girl and the straw mattress, or from the suddenness of it all, he found himself guided by the slightest bits of moonlight out towards the kitchen.

Instead of finding the same picturesque view they had left, he found molding, rotting foodstuffs, shards of glass surrounding broken glasses, and a cracked and empty pitcher with a giant water stain pooling on the rotting wood and scraps of cloth left behind. "What the hell," he states, as he feels a sharp burst of wind and a crash come from the living room window, as he turns to see the place bathed in fresh **/** **IT'S STILL MORNING** ** **/** **moonlight. Sitting on the edge of a broken frame, a girl younger than the two he saw previously sat staring into the night sky, sitting amidst shards of glass sticking up from between rotten paneling, her pink eyes shining as she turns with a gasp to look at him.

Hopping off of the window, the girl **/** **I/ME/SHE/GIRL** ** **/** **stands there bathed in the moonlight that is revealing her simple black dress that contrasts the blue curls of her hair, her pink eyes landing on Adam as he stands there in front of the small child, who looked barely older than a four or five years old. Her eyes seemed to shine and a smile grew on her face as she totted forward, illuminated from behind by the night light, until she stood before him and suddenly grabbed onto his leg tightly. "Hey, hey, Kid let go!" he slightly panics as he tries to pry the child, who is violently heaving against him as he barely manages to pry her off of him to reveal the child is snotty and crying, "Hey, what's the matter kid?" Tears stain his clothes from her grabbing onto him, but he tries to wipe the snot from her face with the scraps of cloth disintegrating in his hands as he tries to calm her down.

" _-Hic- -hic- -hic-_ " was all he could get from the girl, as he waited for her to calm down, suddenly finding himself desperately hugging the child, trying vainly to console her. She finally began to calm down enough for him to pull away and face her with himself, and the girl seemed to turn shy until he got down on his knees and got eye level with her. " _-Hic-_ " was all he got, and he laughed at that, much to the girls confusion. After a minute of silence punctuated by hiccuping, he got up to try and find a source of water at the sink, hopping to get something for the kid to get rid of the bout of hiccups, but as he was doing so he felt a tug at his pants, which caused him to turn around and get on his knees as he realized the green haired kid had something to say. "-cle Adam, I'm scawed without Celine-chi," the girl stated unabashedly to him, as he strained to hear the quiet tot's low voice, "Uncle Adam, where is Mikan-Obasan, where's Mama, or Uwe-Nee **/** **DEAD** ** **/****? **"** The names were unfamiliar to Adam, but the ache in his head was back, pulse pounding in his ears again as the blood rushed to his head almost caused him to pass out.

Flashes of another life ran before his eyes: chains of shadow holding him down, a broken sword, a girl with green hair **/** **UWE** **/** he swore to protect from a monster, a scuffle with a man in black armor, a shot ringing out through the stillness of life, and a piercing pain that led to black. Perhaps he was dead after all. "No... no, this is all wrong," he said, gripping the sides of his head, breathing heavily as he stared down the blue haired girl, who had taken a step back at his outburst, "These aren't 'my' memories, I'm not that 'Adam', **/** **WHERE IS HE THEN?** **/** I'm not you're 'Uncle' either." He cries out as he feels the conflicting memories pulse through his head, blinding him as he screws his eyes shut from the pain, falling to his knees at the pain. "No, not him, but something like him, someone like him..." he opens his eyes to find the girl is gone, though an orange haired child has replaced her, his red eyes boring into him as he sits there in the moonlight, "Wha- where Manami g- go?"

The boy merely steps forward until he is in front of the pain stricken 'Adam', raising his hands to the man's temples and smiling. "It's alright Uncle, Manami is gone; Takumi as well will soon cease to be, but for now I will relieve you of the burden you cannot yet bare to hold, until you find your true self," the child, Takumi he assumed, stated as he firmly placed his hands on his skull and forced him to look him in the eyes, "Don't forget us Uncle, **/** **HE CAN'T** ** **/** **even if our entire existence was stolen away from us; together we won't let them consume you without a fight." The child's eyes seem to glow against the darkness and the moonlight, the soft red irises being filled with a light bubbling up from the inside to burst forth in golden flames that sear into Adam's retinas.

Gone is the child of a dead universe, **/** **ARE THEY?** ** **/** **the echo of a life not **/** **YET** ** **/** **lived, replaced by a childlike **/** **NOT ME** **/** Eve, from whom the light is bursting forth in abundance, fizzing forth from her pores until her childish form dissolved away to reveal a voluptuous beauty, an elder Yami beneath that frame of golden darkness. The golden light fights to overpower the moonlight, stripping the shadows from the walls as if they were alive and wriggling beneath the well of power burning up from her inner self shining true, the light searing memories that were not his into his mind, and filling the hollow feeling inside his very head with the conflicting will of the woman before him. He felt something **/** ** _HIS_** **LIES** **/** crawling up from inside him being displaced by the gentle light that resonated within his blood and left it boiling, as if it igniting something **/** **I FEEL IT TOO** **/** within him, until the crawling, creeping shadows of doubt, fear, and terror **/** **VOMITED** **/** bled from his mouth in writhing maggots that burst into mists of shadow against the golden light of truth this echo of another Golden Darkness was shining upon him, illuminating the reality of his imprisonment and newfound memories of a life not lived.

Spitting out the last bit of lies fed to him by the childish Eve, the bitter water full of hidden meanings and poisoning him with indecision, the bread of half-baked truths that left him hungry and stomach empty to be filled with despair, hopelessness, and so many other negative emotions they had hoped to utilize, stuffing him like a trussed up turkey served for dinner. The kids, the girl, Manami, and the boy, Takumi, they were in reality echoes of a world deserted **/** **WHY DO WE REMEMBER IT** **/** , a future consumed by their Darkness **/** **NOT ME** **/** , even when the light of hope that was given to them, that could have lit a way to a new future ****/** NEVER** ** **/** **free from the shadows that choked it out, was prematurely snuffed out. The memories of another **/** **TRUE/REAL?** ** **/** **Adam, another test subject created under different circumstances, life so diametrically opposed to his that they were more like mirror images that complimented each other in a twisted reflection of a fun house mirror, reflecting death and life. Where he had been born from the sacrifice of his Rito fighting off his inner darkness to allow even the littlest bit of light inside of him to take hold and forge a new path, the other was consumed by the guilt of his own Rito's hand in killing his beloved Lala; an unfitting master whom let the disparaging darkness consume him until he was all but broken while trying to fight off the inner monsters **/** **WAS IT CREED HERE/THEN/NOW/AS WELL?** **/** his master had succumbed to.

And so the echoes of a woman that was no longer had reminded him that this place, too, was yet another world, an echo created by the true masters of the darkness itself, to forge another hopeless future for them to fill their bloated appetites. Turning away from the floor and standing up onto his feet to face the moonlit night, the boy Adam gathered up all the power he could muster and reached out into the very night sky. Grabbing the very fabric of the reality in his hands, breaking the false light of the moon in two with his grip over reality, using the truth of his situation to rend the very shadows of the night and tear it in two; as if ripping a flimsy gauze apart, he split the false darkness to reveal the truth hidden behind the illusion. Like dominoes falling as he disturbed the backdrop, a chain reaction occurred: first the house fell away, no longer supported by the empty promises and false standards of normality he had previous felt while his mind was clouded by the deception. Second the sun was still strong in the sky, as it had been and would continue to be, as this unchanging world he found himself was revealed before his very eyes. The other houses on the hilltops proved to be as flat and static as the stage props they truly were, painted onto the backdrop, along with the whipping winds and flowing grass he had seen becoming paper thin, revealed to be cardboard cutouts imitating the flow of life, albeit now poorly. In front of him was the girl, the violet haired one that he had left alone in the bed, standing before him and cowering as if he were some vicious predator preparing to strike.

"Remove that silly costume; you look foolish trying to hide behind a mask like that," he states, knowing who she truly was, "Hair and demeanor like _Haruna_ to try and lower my guard, manor and name imitating _Kotegawa_ to try and make me believe you could fit my moral standards, and those delicate eyes that shine like an aquamarine sea, imitating _Lala_ in hopes of bewitching me and fooling my senses; I'd say if you hadn't lost control of the simulation, you almost could have fooled me." The woman wavers and morphs before him, revealing the girl 'Eve', who stood before him like a copy of the woman his Master had once known as Yami, the Assassin Golden Darkness, though this form was much younger and more immature than the girl he knew.

"I don't understand how, but that wasn't part of the simulation," 'Eve' stated, **/** **OF COURSE NOT, ADAM CAME FROM OUTSIDE** ** **/** **as she took a step back in his presence, "How did you manage to break the system like that; some hidden mental defense of yours, or something my master couldn't predict?" Adam smiled, as he looked past her into the gleaming water to see the silver sword still lodged behind her.

"Not exactly, an echo **/OF ME/EVE/HER/DARKNESS/** , maybe, but I think whatever it was, wherever I am," Adam states, looking around at the quickly shrinking world, as his perception of the reality of the place altered with every step he took towards the small body of water and the lady of lake who stood in his path. The place was barely the size of a football stadium now, large but mostly composed of illusions and complex usage of depth perception to fool the senses; the smells and scents he had been breathing in no doubt were craftily disguised hallucinogens meant to make him complacent, as they fed his body drugs to make him more susceptible to their methods. "But you see, there was something you hadn't considered when you took me away," Adam states, as he stands taller than he had when he had arrived, "You can do all you can to hide the truth, alter my reality, obscure my memories, but the one thing you can't severe from me is my connection... to _**/RITO/**_!" Around him the scenery began to glitch apart, **/i'M HERE, i SEE IT TOO/** the ground around him seemingly turning to pixels and hexagons as he lifted his feet with each straining footstep, breaking apart and ripping apart the seams of this reality to prove it was simply a virtual construct he was tearing apart with every step he took as his self awareness began to exert its influence on his virtual **/CAN YOU SEE ME YET?/** surroundings.

"Please, please, don't do this; don't leave **/** **HER** **/** me," the girl wailed as she stood unable to move as he brushed past her, ignoring her cries, "You don't understand, you don't have the power to ignore _**Him**_ , I can't disobey **Him** either; you'll make him notice you if you try and leave here..." She falls to her knees, hair falling over his shoulders as the blackness and rips in the virtual space began to destroy the area around her, leaving her alone and in the dark as he strode forward ignorant of her plight.

Finding himself struggling as he stepped into the simulated water **/** **I** **T'S NOT REAL/REAL/REAL** **/** ; each footstep in the murky sludge seemed straining to his muscles. He barely manages to reach for the weapon sunken into the water, pulling it free, when the whistling of something falling into this fabricated reality hit his ears. Within a fraction of a second his free hand, the one holding the sword aloft and out of the simulated mire, is severed **/** **NO!** **/** from below his wrist, falling in the air before it was grabbed by a hand not to dissimilar to his own.

Looking up from the pond while ignoring the shock of his hand being severed from his body, he couldn't help but be awed by the image of the man before him, standing on top of the water as if it were solid ground. Prying his severed hand from the grip of the blade, a plop could be heard as it was carelessly left to fall into the water, while Adam sits unable to move. His blood was frozen as he gazed upon the visage of death, the unholy monster standing before him embodying the feeling of unnaturalness sent off of it in waves, the reality of the situation growing more ridiculous and conflicting by his mere presence near it.

Another 'Adam' stood before him, dressed in similar garb to himself, blonde hair perfectly tussled as if by the wind, teeth a flawless, pearly-white, a smile as warm and natural as any other normal human being could muster on his face as they stared each other down. **StOp** Overall he had this soothing presence along with the unnaturalness of the situation, if not for a simple flaw this other 'Adam' held that made him so radically different and so obvious it was unable to be overlooked. Eyes, while a mirror in every way imaginable to his own, instead of a hidden joy, or a warmth that radiated kindness, these were plain steel, dull and lifeless like a glassy eyed dolls; a frozen, unreadable expression obscuring any feeling the soulless doppelgänger could have shown on his face. Raising the silver metal high above his head, the life sized marionette plunged the sword into the perfect spot,, sliding it right between his collar bone, having sliced open both his left lung and split his heart before he could even offer a breath of protest. Instead of immediately dying, a black ichor **/DARK MATTER/BLOOD/LIFE/** splattered from his mouth like ink **/DISSOLVING/** into the water. Adam choked on his final words while he turned his head to meet eyes, one last time with 'Eve', before his life ended there. Eve in turn stood helpless as she watched the body slip beneath the fake water, staining it black as the dark matter making up its body dissolved beneath the rippling body of water, sword still lodged inside its quickly dissolving remnants.

Turning its attention to the horrified 'Eve', it lifted the now blackened blade from the dissolving corpse **/** **WAIT HE...** **/** before it was fully submerged, and began to walk towards the shore where the shaking girl stood helplessly watching. The simulation reasserted itself with each step the new 'Adam' took towards the girl, until it was as if the other had never existed at all, the fake world restored in full. "Mental contaminate detected in Simulation #10001: Removed," it stated in a hollow tone, turning its head until the bones in its neck cracked and popped as if it was just settling into the body, like a frozen piece of meat being tenderized, ****/...** IS LOOKING RIGHT AT ME NOW** **/** "Detecting mental contamination in unit designate 'Eve', conclusion: experiment is a failure; resulting action: termination of subject." **/** **NO/NO/NO** **/** Before she could even run, a cold hand **/GOD** **IT HURTS** **/** wrapped around her throat, and the unnatural mimic of life had hoisted her into the air **/** **STOP** **/** while holding its blade aloft, as if preparing to strike. **/** **NO/NOT HIS SWORD** ** **/** **"Consolation: It is not personal, **/** **OF COURSE IT IS YOU BASTARD** **/** Reason: God will not take kindly to sinful beings contaminating his Garden Paradise," the thing provides as reason, flawlessly delivering it without emotion to the now teary eyed girl **/I** **/HER/ME/WE** **/** as she **/** **I/WE** **/** struggled against his impossible grip, "Assurance: The next 'Eve' **/** **NOT AGAIN!** **/** unit shall be free of the contamination of outside sources, **/** **I'M SO SORRY** **/** Reason: External Mental Contaminate Organism has been/will be dealt with, ergo the flaw will not develop again." **/** **NO/DON'T/STOP** **/**

Cold eyes staring into her, as the thing brings back its blade to strike, 'Eve' tries to claw at the things arm, uselessly, until the flash of steel in her eyes cu **/** **AAAARGGGG _-_** _#$ ^ &%!*3NDPR0GR M.._

 _ **{/:SystemReboot:/}**_  
 _ **{/:Status:Unsuccessful:/}**_  
 _ **{/:RestoringPreviousSave:/}**_

"-GGGH!" she cries out, lashing out with her claws as she feels the lasts wisps of darkness clinging to her body holding onto her tightly, she strikes out blinding trying to break free, only to feel a spray of wetness hit her face. She feels the droplets on her face, full of warmth and the cold grip she had imagined replaced with a warm and tender touch. Opening her eyes in horror as she realizes she was still inside her ship, she sees Kuro leaning over her while gripping her down with both of his hands, and another figure beyond she can't make out due to the sudden intake of light blinding her.

"Damn it, do you have her under control yet Black Cat?" Azenda called out, clutching her right shoulder, as blood flowed freely through the gaps in her fingers, cursing under her breath as Mea comes in with some bandages and rags to help Azenda with her bleeding shoulder.

Yami looks around, head clearing as she realizes that she still is on the ship, in the observation room, her tea still steaming on the table where she had left it. "The _Lunatique_ let us know you suddenly passed out when you were sitting and staring out the window," Kuro states, looking at her with concern as she can't stop the pounding in her ears, "What happened?"

"I- I think I just died," Yami states, looking back out the window and into the void, which is slowly starting to fill with specks of light as the rim of the Talha Galaxy comes into view, "I think this is bigger than we ever thought it **cOuLd Be...** " Covering her mouth, she vomits the contents of breakfast from her mouth, as if some cold chill had just passed through her, leaving her more empty than the bile exiting her stomach.

Nothing was right with the world.

 **A/N:** **Please don't forget to review, favorite, like, etc, etc, etc. I fixed some wording, but if you notice anything I could fix or rewrite, don't hesitate to leave a note or PM and let me know!**


	8. A harrowing hit so close to Home

**A/N: I do not own To Love-Ru, Black Cat, or Mayoi Neko Overrun.**

 _Earth_  
 _Now_

Among the crowded school halls there was a clamor surrounding the lockers, white jacketed teens that were prowling the late springtime grounds outside rushing inside as time slowly ticked down to the beginning of a brand new school day. Halls were a hustle and bustle of life as children wove around each other, books in hands, bags in others, nerds avoiding the jocks, the cool kids making fun of those they deemed dorks. Kids playing card games, narrowly avoided by that one girl who always walked by them, too anxious to approach the boys and admit she was a fan, while she talked with her girlfriends about the upcoming summer festival that would kick off summer break. Sports jocks were too focused on the upcoming game, absorbed in themselves and their ever expanding egos and competitive nature, as they brushed aside a blonde haired youth who merely fell against the nearest locker, after the brutish thugs that walked past her shoved her petite figure without even noticing her presence. Blue eyes filling with fury as she sat there on the ground, stunned and slowly beginning to simmer as they continued to obliviously walk away from her.

"Hey!" a commanding and somewhat harsh tone rang through the halls over the clamor, silencing most of the passerby's, as the boys recognized the voice of a brown haired, green eyed girl that stood in their way and kept them from getting to class, "I saw you guys shove Chise to the floor; apologize right now, you brutes!" With fury matching the simmering blonde who dusted herself off as she helped her up from the ground, an expecting brunette put her hands on her hips and defiantly stood up to three hefty gorillas in school uniforms.

One of them went to grab the girl and push her aside, but another stopped them and nodded over to another spot at the end of the hallway. At the end of the second year's hallway were a pair of third years, a purple haired hall monitor that was coldly watching the three to see what they would do to the pair of girls in their way, willing to report any misconduct, and a cool and laid back boy that the three knew could end their careers as their Senpai on the sports team.

With that the three ignore the complaints of the brown haired girl, mindlessly yapping away at them as they walked away, before the purple haired woman brushed past them with an air of confidence that caused them to move for her, when they wouldn't for the other girls.

"Fumino-san, I know it's hard to adjust to a new school, especially after how Umenomori Gakuen was closed after it lost its funding, but fighting Chise-kun's battles for her isn't going to help either of you make new friends," Haruna Sairenji scolds the girl a year younger than her, who visibly deflates at the mention of her previous school. Ever since the disaster with Rito and Deviluke's King Gid, among other unfortunate situations happening in the area of upper Sainan, the former school for the rich and famous was closed down after some unsuccessful business transactions. Much of the children of the rich and elite who had once attended the prestigious academy, once funded and named after the prominent Umenomori Family, were dispersed among other local school districts when the schools funding was cut and it had to shut its doors. While Shurufuku High was a bit out of the way, generally speaking, the overflow had forced parents and children alike to make sacrifices until another school could replace the now closed academy, or another investor intervened and supplied the school with money to open it back up.

Even the once rich Chise Umenomori was forced to make compromises, when the only school that could take her was Shurufuku. Fortunately another friend, whose family had to move away from Sainan after her father lost his job in a packaging plant that had been bought out by a toy company called Solstice Industries, Fumino Serizawa was accompanying her as a fellow refugee from the overflow of classrooms. Both had tried to get into Sainan High, where the rest of their other friends had gone, except one that had transferred to the nearby Masamune Gakuen, both had been rejected and separated from the close friendships they had when they had grown up going to the same schools, even if it was very brief.

Sairenji sighed, covering her hand as she looked over the two and shook her head. Sneaking past her was the silent form of her boyfriend, Ren Memoraze, as he laughed at his girlfriends expense.

"Come on sugarplum, give the girls a break; Butch and the Gang he runs with aren't exactly the friendliest bunch of transfers we got with the influx of new students," Ren states the obvious, looking back down the hallway at the lumbering kids retreating forms, "A bunch of rough necks and hooligans, but we're all on edge ever since all these kids from clashing neighborhoods have started showing up." She crosses her arms with a pout, looking up and away from him as he slides closer to her in order to steal a kiss on her cheek. "A lot of schools and empty plots of land are being bought up all around the market you know, it makes a lot of people tense when they have to shift their lives around to accommodate; kind like..." Ren states rolling his hand playfully as he grins at Sairenji, "...they were aliens coming to a new planet, or something like that." With a teasing smile, Sairenji bops him on the shoulder, before turning to the other two children who were gagging at the sickening display of over familiarity between the two.

"Alright, alright, I get it; now, you two better get to class, I heard there are some new teachers showing up today; the faculty had to expand some classes and get new teachers to accommodate the growth in students," Sairenji states, putting a hand on Fumino's shoulder, "You know, if you ever want to join us, we have friends and family in Sainan we haven't talked too in a while; maybe if you talk to your parents, you too Chise, we could spend a weekend at my sister's new apartment in lower Sainan." The blonde's eyes brighten into a shimmering sapphire, turning to Fumino, whose green eyes are just as jaded as her expectations of the promise being kept by the older girl. Haruna can see the hurt expression play across her face, almost overshadowing the slightest glimmer of hope she had first seen in the quirk of her lips, before she locked down her expression, at the same time blocking her extension of friendship to the younger girl.

"Okay, well, if you do want to take me up on that offer, let me know so I can inform my sister that she'd have guests for a couple of nights," Haruna continues to extend the olive branch to the embittered girl, and the bubbling blonde whose mood was brightened by the gesture, "Now,get along to class you two!" Turning away to walk back to their own set of classrooms, Sairenji takes a breath as her confidence deflates, Ren smoothly walking up next to her with his dazzling smile to comfort her, along with an encouraging squeeze of a hand hold.

"Good job, you've been trying to do so much for all these kids we've gotten into our school," Ren states as he feels Haruna squeeze back, "You've successfully defused yet another situation; what was it last: a food fight in the cafeteria, a quarrel in the library over a book, or was it that weirdo in the army coat that tried assaulting you after school, after he stalked you for over a week?" Haruna sighed, dramatically swooning into the Memorzean's strong arms, looking up to him as they stopped at a corner between the upper and lower classes,where they both knew no cameras or teachers were watching, nor kids were walking, so close to the beginning of classes. She quickly leaned up into his space and greedily took a kiss from him, much to his surprise as she pulled away quickly.

"Whoa, Sairenji, when did you become such a bold rebel?" he jokes, smiling as he puts one hand on her shoulder and the other behind her back and forcing her smaller frame against the wall as some nearby students began to wander to carelessly, "Don't ever let the morals officer know, or he might just have to punish you..." Leaning down to steal another kiss from her, before breaking off with the din of a shrill school bell, he pulls away from her and returns the bag he had slung over his shoulder to her. "See you after classes, sugarplum, at lunch like always," he states, as he waved while turning to go further down the hallway where his class was.

Haruna smiled in a daze, grabbing her bag and taking a whiff of it, she straightens herself up before going to step into her classroom, preparing to open the door.

The door opens before she can even do anything, and a well dressed man in a black two piece suit, and tinted glasses stands as if he was waiting for her at the doorway. He pulls a silver pocket watch from his coat, the chain clinking and swinging in the air as he flips the device open to observe the time. "Ah, the late Miss Haruna Sairenji, I presume?" he asks rhetorically, as he turns to walk back to his desk, "One would think that someone of the morals committee would know better than to snog ones fellow,oh so perilously close to their new teacher's classroom; one could seriously damage the dependability and credibility of the supposed star pupil of the classroom." Black haired and glasses reflecting her own embarrassed back to her, a teasing smile could be seen on the teachers face as she walked quickly and quietly to her own seat, amongst the snickers of her classmates. "Now, as I was stating to the class, the school faculty has needed to expand the roster of teachers, I am a newly certified teacher whose only hopes is to mold your young minds," He writes his name across the blackboard the school had provided the classroom, turning with a smile and lowering his glasses to reveal the laugh lined eyes expected of a middle aged man in a black turtleneck and khakis, "You'll find that I work best through experiments and hands on examples: for example did you know that in an island of the coast of Spain, an experiment regarding the effects of a newly discovered bacterium on plastic, that could be utilized in the disposal of the Pacific-Atlantic garbage patch?" He smiled, amongst a few coughs of unimpressed children,which caused him to slightly frown, as he didn't receive the applause he expected.

"Come on, children, this is the future of your world we're talking about here, wouldn't it be amazing if you didn't have to tell you children, or your grandchildren, that the oceans were once a clean and healthy place, full of life, instead of a toxic waste full of bleached coral reefs, poisonous waters, over fished waters devoid of the marine life you don't even realize is poisoned, even now?" the Professor stated, a sad look on his face as not a single person answered him, "Huh... well, did you know that on average, the rice you eat in your meals, as sides, or use in other various dishes, may no longer be coming from your local farmers, but start being shipped from overseas as Japan's rice crops continue to die off without things being changed, unless you, as the future leaders and citizens of this nation, make the technology and innovative ideas we need to make those changes." The lesson continued on, with the teacher going between differing topics that the previous teacher had left, and interjecting his own thoughts and provoking questions to get answers from the rest of the group. By the time the class was finished and ready for the sweet release of lunch, the bell chimed its sweet sound and freed them from the confines of that stuffy room and teacher.

"Oh, is that the bell already," the professor remarked as he watched the children get up to leave for the cafeteria lines and large grounds to enjoy the fresh spring air with their friends, "AH, Miss Sairenji, could I trouble you to stay after class; I won't keep you from your friends for very long, I assure you." As Haruna was already heading out the door, with the rest of the kids having left, and Ren standing just outside the door, she turns to him.

"Go grab my lunch for me from the cafeteria, I'll pay you pack, please!" She smiles and claps her hands together, sheepishly begging her boyfriend off, while she handled the teacher. Ren gives her a nod, giving a sharp look at the teacher, before returning to his smiling self and giving her a peck on her hand.

"I'll be back in ten minutes top with lunch; I'll try and grab your favorite too," Ren states, walking off to the cafeteria while Sairenji walks back into the room and closes the door behind him.

Turning back to where the teacher sat in a chair, taking some papers and grading them with a bright red pen as he sat, Haruna took a stance in front of him. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Haruna asks, a bit shy in front of the teacher who most of the girls spent the class admiring, "If it's about this morning, I have to profusely apologize, and assure you it will never happen again-" The black haired teacher belts out a laugh at the rambling Sairenji, his glasses reflecting her panic at his sudden outburst, until he removes his glasses to wipe them clean.

"No, no miss Sairenji, nothing of the sort like that, I'm afraid," the man states, folding closed the paper he was grading, capping the pen and looking up at her with his bright pink eyes shining with mischief, "You see, I actually just came from somewhere out of town when I happened across this job; you see I know a good friend of yours..." He puts his glasses away in a case, slipping it into his pocket as he gets up from his seat to take off his coat and hang it on a nearby coat rack. He unbuttons his shirt, much to Haruna's embarrassment, until she realizes that underneath the thin white shirt was actually a black turtleneck. "Ah, sorry for my unsightliness, but it was so stuffy keeping that over shirt and jacket on with the weather warming up," the man says, as he grabs another coat hanging on the other end of the rack, "I like to keep it cooler, I am a man of science after all, and I always prefer to handle experiments in my lab coat." He smooths out the wrinkles in his white lab coat, and smiles as he faces Haruna once more with confidence.

"As I was saying, you and I have a common link, I believe both yourself and the Memorzean Prince, know of one Rito Yuuki, the future King of Deviluke?" the teacher asks, as Haruna suddenly freezes at his casual familiarity with what are alien terms, "I am familiar with aliens, Miss Sairenji; I myself could be called something more than human, if my eyes don't give you a hint." He once again smiles as he levels his eyes with Haruna, though she catches a flash of something in his hands that he hides just behind him. "Let me introduce myself, as I wrote it one the blackboard earlier; my name is Kanzaki, Kanzaki Kousuke," he introduces himself to her while pulling out another pair of glasses from his lab coat, "But, you can call me by my preferred title: Doctor." He pulls out the thing he had hidden behind him earlier, and the silver flash of a muzzle and a deafening burst of sound is all she hears as she feels something bite into her shoulder with a sickening thud.

Haruna puts her hand to her shoulder, stunned by the suddenness of it all, and she feels something sharp poking up and out of her skin from where she was hit. Tacky blood on her fingertips as she pulls her hand away, Haruna tries to voice her questions to this enigmatic Doctor, only to feel a shock from the spike in her shoulder. "Apologies, dear miss, but I can't have my patient go all screaming and alerting every nearby student that something is wrong now, can I?" he states, pulling a couple of discs from his pockets, he walks towards Haruna, "I have to explore all my options, you see, Rito Yuuki has caused me quite a few headaches, so I thought I would cause him a bit of... pain, as well." He grabs her by the arms, as she tries to futility struggle against his strong grip, as he forces her to the ground. "The problem with you Humans, is that you don't understand how powerless you are, how much this world, this universe is out of your control," He manages to press one of the discs into her temple, a needle puncturing her skull like butter as her muted cries are cut off by the Doctor's hands, "If you think this pain is anything, you don't understand how much pain your world can bring if you manage to spread beyond the stars; if only you could understand how much pain your kind has brought this universe already..." Forcing the other node onto her opposite temple, the process complete, he let her go and pulled out yet another device from his seemingly large pockets, and began to mess with the piece of technology.

"Please, please don't..." Haruna begs, though the Doctor ignores it in favor of his device. Sending yet another shock through her body to quiet her again, she cries out and loses control of her bodily functions, falling into unconsciousness from the repeated controlled shock.

"Oh dear, I think I made a mess," the Doctor states, laughing as with a certain cruelness about him at her situation, "It's a good thing you didn't bite your tongue off, that would have been a mess I'd have to deal with then afterwards; oh well, I didn't come to experiment on your body after all." Tuning the device to interface with his handiwork, the discs begin to emanate a glow inside them, and the Doctor gets to work doing what he does best to his 'patients'.

* * *

Stopping outside the classroom, after running from one end of the school and back, he cursed the fact he couldn't get food faster. The school cracked down on lunchroom etiquette with all the influx of new mouths, to ensure everyone got food and didn't go without, he couldn't force his way to the front of the line and retrieve the food any faster than he had. Now twenty minutes wasted, he hoped Haruna was done talking to professor Kousuke, so he could enjoy his lunch with his girlfriend. Sitting next to the doorway, he goes to start digging into his food, when his eye catches the fact that the door is just slightly ajar enough that he wonders if Haruna was just waiting for him inside, or helping the teacher out somewhat. The man had given him the creeps when he had met eyes with him, and an itch in the back of his skull made him uneasy about leaving Haruna with the new teacher. But there were a lot of new faculty members, and a lot of new kids who gave him the same feelings, some of them for good reasons, others because he knew they were alien kids or other such he kept in check under the guise of becoming a morals officer. Haruna knew this too, and joined him in helping not only keeping peace with the other kids, but help encourage the new kids to step out of their comfort zones, like Chise and Fumino.

Deciding to get up and knock, to see if the teacher was there, or if Haruna was still waiting, he felt the door swing with his knock. Opening the door, he drops all of the food in his hands to the floor, ignoring it all in favor of being stricken by fear. Covering his mouth, stifling a scream as terror nestles in the back of his head, a cold sweat sweeping over him. "Haruna!" Ren finally screams out, feet no longer cemented to the floor as the panic in his voice escapes, "Sairenji, Sairenji, no, no!" He kneels down next to her body, ignoring the bodily fluids and sweat leaking from under her body, he sees the flush of heat rising in her body as a fever begins to wrack her body. Looking over her body, seeing a gaping wound in her shoulder where something had been in her body, but sticky, tacky blood pooling and scabbing over the spot, as the fever began to infect and spread in her body. Trying not to cry as he inspects the rest of the body, to see what is wrong, he finds to pinpricks in her temples, blood already scabbed over after whatever caused them was removed. He dare not shake her awake, in case whatever it was damaged her or impacted her brain in anyway, but he could gain a little hope in knowing she was still breathing, albeit shallowly, and that she was merely unconscious and unresponsive.

"What the hell are you doing?" a voice from the open doorway asked, as Ren looked up, "Get away from her, you freak!" Fumino was standing over spilled noodles and rice, which had broken free from the containers he had brought from the lunch room, Chise was standing just behind, peeking around the brown haired second year. "Die twice, you pervert!" with that exclamation, Fumino jumped as if to kick him in the head. Having none of that, Ren simply avoided her kick by sliding to the side, removing his jacket and focusing his attention on stanching the flow of blood from Haruna Sairenji's shoulder.

"Shut up, Fumino; Chise, get me my phone from my backpack, I need you to look up a certain number in my contacts," Ren states, as he tries to move without relieving the pressure he was applying, "Call 'Universal Healthcare'; Fumino, get your butt up from the floor and take over for me, so I can call for help from people who know what happened here." He's bluffing of course, but Fumino doesn't know that and moves in, applying pressure to Haruna's wound so Ren could grab the ringing phone from Chise.

"Hello?" an unsure voice answers from the other end, which Ren recognizes as Shizu, "This is the office of Doctor Ryouko Mikado, she's on vacation right now, but doctor Tearju Lunatique is more than qualified to handle.." Ren interrupts her, urgency in his voice hopefully getting through to her as he speaks quickly.

"Oshizu, I need you to shut up and listen, preferably I need you to get someone to pick me up at Shurufuku High," Ren states, "Haruna is bleeding out, we're managing it for now, but a couple of younger kids found me with her after I found her unconscious in her classroom where she was supposed to be with a new teacher." He barely pauses to look over at the other two kids to see how they were handling, before continuing. "She's unresponsive, but there is evidence she was attacked: a wound that looks like she was pierced is located on her left shoulder, and there are also two spots on her temples, one on opposite sides of each other that look like her skull was pierced," as he continues, he hears the scribbling of notes and a frantic call for Tearju Lunatique by the young assistant, "If you think it's safe to move her, I can get to the roof and use my remote recall on my ship, so we can get her stabilized quicker." The phone shifts, and Ren realizes that the younger girl was passing it off to Tearju.

"Ren, you say there are holes on either side of her temple, now this next part is VERY important; do they look like puncture marks, like they are oozing blood, or is it more like pinpricks?" Tearju asks, enunciating and remaining calm, despite Ren's hurriedness.

"No, they look like pinpricks."

"Good, good, that means they likely didn't want to rupture her arteries," Tearju responds, voice a little bit calmer, breathing a sigh of relief over the phone before continuing to ask him questions, "Now, check her pupils and tell me how large they appear, I want to see if she has a concussion, or is merely unconscious." Ren moves to the other side of Haruna, making sure Fumino kept pressure on her shoulder, as bleeding began to slowly stain his white jacket.

"Her eyes don't appear dilated, though they do seem a little glassy," Ren reports, gently releasing her eyelid after checking out both eyes, "Doc, do you think I'd be able to move her; we could get her in my ride and be there in twenty if I coax it." He hears Tearju sigh, rummaging around on her side before she comes back on the line.

"Yes, most of the notes Mikado made me memorize show she's just unconscious, but until we get her here, or until Mikado herself can really ascertain her condition, I believe you can bring her around," she states, before quickly adding something before Ren could hang up, "Ren- bring the other two with you, they're going to have to watch Sairenji while you pilot the ship!" Looking up towards both Chise and Fumino, he motions for Chise to come closer to where he and Fumino is, despite her flightiness around the door, either out of wariness or indecision. Hanging up and pocketing his phone, he grabs Chise and loops Haruna's good arm around her.

"Alright you two, try and keep pressure on the wound Fumino, but we need to move Haruna to somewhere I know that can handle this better than a normal hospital..." with that Ren grabbed Haruna's legs and brought them around his waist so he could try take the majority of the slack on himself, "We're going to the roof..."

* * *

Once on Shurufuku's roof, Ren had managed to lean Haruna against the rooftop entrance, with Chise switching out with Fumino to staunch the bleeding, and took out something from his bag and held it aloft. "Alright you two, this may seem a bit weird, but trust me on this," Ren stated, as he looked over the two, before a rush of engines was heard and air pressure blew across the rooftop and against the two girls, "This is going to be a bit strange, but I'll explain it all when we get to where we're going..." At that he clicked a button, and his spaceship went from being an invisible presence, to something out of a fifties alien Sci-Fi movie, with a classic flying saucer look. Both merely looked bug-eyed at the boy in front of them, as he smiled as the absurd craft landed on the roof behind him.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_  
 _Ten Minutes Earlier_

"Welcome to the Stray Cat Patisserie, table for one?" a black haired teen asks as a man in a white lab coat walks into the room. He nods in response, and the plain clothed male waiter takes a menu and walks the customer over to a single table. "May I inform you, dear customer, of the specialty of the month: a vanilla cake with butter cream and chocolate 'paw prints' settled over the frosting; it was especially handmade today by our new baker," the waiter states with a smile, pointing to an example of such cake sitting in its glass display case, "It pairs well with Cafe Au lait, or an iced coffee if you would prefer."

The man takes a glance over the menu, then looks up and returns the mans smile with one of his own. "Cafe au lait is just fine, but I think I'll take a Strawberry Parfait, if it's as good as it sounds on your menu," the man replies, smile dissipating as the waiter takes his order and leaves.

Taking the time to look around the room, the man in the lab coat catches his face in the bakery shelving before he decides to grab the silver napkin dispenser and get a better look at his face. A hand glides up the right side of his face, where once and ugly and proud scar had sat, now skin just a bit paler than his own natural beige-tan was left, smooth as the day he was born yet the feeling had yet to return. Numb as was to that fact, as he brushed his hand against what was little more than a facade of his true self, the true loss he felt regarding his sense of self came from the change surrounding his ears. Instead of proud, large pointed ears that stuck out from his head to take all the wondrous sounds of the city in, they were little more than shaved down nubs, having been sculpted into the form of a human's earlobe, though tender and still aching form the surgery, at least they still had some sense of feeling through them.

"Your coffee, sir," a voice monotonously states, passing a small saucer in front of with a cup of dark brew on it, before placing an oversized parfait with a large spoon in front of him as well, "Please let me know if you need anyth-" Suddenly cutting off her words, Keize looked up from his seat to see the purple haired girl that was serving him stop at the sound of the door opening, the bell chiming causing him to focus on the door.

With a smile of recognition, he sees the familiar form of his teacher and waves him over. Glasses hiding his true emotions, a smile on his face as fake as the credentials he was using as a substitute teacher to get closer to his first target, the Doctor walked calmly towards where his subordinate sat. Pulling another chair out from a secondary table, he smiled at the transfixed waitress who had remained silent as he sat down.

"Could I get a coffee like my compatriot, miss?" the Doctor asked, crossing his hands together as he turned to face Keize as he sat down. The girl hasn't reacted, though the tufts of her pink hair that had once stood on end, seemed to have flattened ever since the bespectacled man had brushed past her, and she appeared to be slightly shaking at his presence, or so Keize noted. "Is something the matter, miss?" Kanzaki asked, smiling up at her, "It's my glasses, isn't it?" He goes to remove them and set them on the table, looking back up with closed, smiling eyes with an upturned brow. "Not so scary now, am I?" he states, as he reveals his pink irises, "A little unusual, but my albinism is an inherited trait of my family, you see." The girl simply nods, though she flinches when another hand grabs her from behind, and moves her to set a cup of coffee in front of the man in the turtleneck and lab coat.

"Thank you dear customer for waiting, and here is your coffee au lait," a black haired girl with a ponytail states, her cat styled uniform fitting against her body as she pushes her coworker back towards the kitchen and the man behind the counter, "Please enjoy, it's on the house." With a smile, she bows and moves back to the kitchen, which the others had already returned to.

"Was that your second target?" Keize asks, as he turns back to the Doctor, who merely takes a sip of his coffee in response.

"No, but she was someone who seemed to be familiar with my face," the Kanzaki replies, as he tilts his head back towards the front counter, "Perhaps I simply look like someone else she knows." Keize nods at that, as the Doctor takes another sip of his coffee, the younger scientist returns his spoon to his half eaten parfait and looks his compatriot in the eye.

"The other girl then, the one whom I've taken before when we threatened Mikado-senpai... I believe her name was Kokegawa," Keize states, crossing his hands and sighing, as Kanzaki stiffens before relaxing, as his counterpart continues speaking, "Honestly, if it wasn't for your handiwork and the fact I had my underlings capture her originally; I was instead, pleasantly surprised that she didn't recognize me." Keize laughed out loud, grabbing for another bite of his parfait and chuckling. "Great work, Doctor," Keize states, as he takes a bite of cream and strawberries, "Now that we know our target, it will be that much easier..." As the doors to the kitchen opened up again and the black haired waitress stepped forth from its depths, Keize raised his hand to flag her down.

"Yes, dear customer?" the girl, Kokegawa states as she steps forward to face the two of them, "Is there something I can do for you two?" Keize smiles up at her as she impatiently begins to tap her foot waiting.

"We'd like to get a check for my items, miss Kokegawa," Keize asks, as he holds up a money clip to give its contents to the girl, "Oops." Conveniently letting go of a large bill as he lifts it up to give it up, the girl reaching for the money hesitates a second as he does so.

"It's Ko _t_ egawa..." she states on impulse, before her one track mind realizes that the man's money clip has fallen, and she goes to help him pick it up. Taking it as the opportunity he was looking for, Keize smiles sinisterly as he takes the emptied billfold in his hand and splits a piece of it off in between his pointer and middle fingers. As Yui is reaching down for the crumpled bill, to give it back, he takes the piece of technology in his fingers and slaps it across her forehead, revealing a piece of exposed circuitry. Before she can even react, the piece is working its magic, sending out a pulse of electricity and receiving information from her parietal lobe, and sending her into an unconscious state as it does so. Collapsing to the floor with a heavy crash, Keize feigns helping her, while the Doctor actually stops her head from colliding with the floor, as the other black haired child and purple haired cat-girl rushes out from the kitchens and into the front.

"What happened?" the boy asks with a commanding voice, as he notices the Doctor with Yui in his hands, a hand brushing back her hair as he gently sets her down on the floor, "Kotegawa; what have you done to Yui?" Kanzaki is checking her pulse after clearing the hair from her side, and smiles as he feels a steady pulse from her unconscious form.

"It must have been overwork, possibly anemia; my compatriot dropped his billfold and she was going to pick it up," Kanzaki states, holding up the dropped bill in between his fingers, tucking it back in with the others between the money clip, "The poor dear just collapsed, I barely managed to keep her head from hitting the ground and getting a concussion, but I would suggest calling an ambulance and getting her some proper help." With that suggestion he moves away, handing the billfold back to Keize and walking over to the girl with purple hair, as the boy brushes past him to get to Yui. As he approaches the cat-eared hair girl, he takes one of her shaking hands into his own massive paw and settles some coins and bills into it, before closing her hand over them. Opening his closed eyes to stare the girl down with a fairly creepy smile, he leans in close to speak to the frightened girl so his compatriot and the others wouldn't hear him. "For the delicious meal, and a number to call for your friend..." he whispers, "Nozomi Kiriya..." Freezing as he says her name, he closes his smiling eyes and walks towards Keize, who is waiting by the door already.

* * *

Getting to the car they had parked nearby, Keize begins to drive off and away from the patisserie until they get a good distance away and he pulls over to park down a blind alley, driving a little further into it where no one would bother them or see them from the street.

"Did you manage to get the information secured, before that interfering dolt of a manager saw you?" Keize asks, as he turns to Kanzaki. The Doctor holds up the dropped billfold and slides it apart, revealing the piece of technology that they had used to record her brainwave patterns. "Not as nice, or precise as yours, of course," Keize states with a smile, taking the device from him and examining the circuits with pride, "But since our first target is the personality base, our second target is the emotional and moral basis; so it was more important to get a general scan of her malleable, hormonal-teenage brain."

Kanzaki watched as Keize opened up a secret compartment inside the car, revealing an array of buttons and gadgets, including one he slid the separated piece of the device into a slot among them.

"Her unfulfilled love towards Rito Yuuki having formed her basis for her understanding of the emotion, will make a fine match to that personality you procured from that Sairenji girl," Keize states, pulling the device from the slot, "Data uploaded, confirmation of targets one and two confirmed...oh, and we have just received confirmation of a data packet procured by our Solgam agent infiltrating the outer rim..." As the car received data from another source, a hologram of the third target's physical structure was recreated before their eyes as the information was uploaded to the car's hidden systems.

"The physical data of Princess Lala Satalin Deviluke," Kanzaki states, with a small smile growing on his lips as he sees everything come into place before him, "Yes, everything is coming together now, just nicely..." He watches as Keize closes the hidden panel, before motioning to the Doctor towards the storage compartment.

"If you would please, Doctor, this place appears to be secure as any for our departure," Keize explains, as he keeps pointing to the unopened glove box, "The warp/gate system, Doctor?" Opening the glove box, and finding a hidden button inside, Kanzaki quickly pushes it and the car quickly begins to shake.

The shimmering rainbow of a warp gate field being activated, surrounding the car in a curtain of multicolored light that seemed to wrap around the car and close around it. In a moment the dark alleyway was lit up in a flash and then nothing.

Unfortunately on the exact opposite side of the road, directly across from the blind alleyway, a man was sitting while drinking a quickly cooling cup of tea he had ordered. He had observed the car disappearing in a flash of rainbow light, after tracking the car from where it had left the patisserie, following the man driving the car holding his very own double.

Yes, another Kanzaki Kousuke sat there at a corner table of a simple Cafe, out of the way and just able to view the tail end of the car from its hiding spot within the alleyway. "So, it's true, he has come here," Doctor Kanzaki Kousuke noted with a smile, as he took a sip of his cooling beverage, "Finally, you make your move." Glasses obscuring his emotion as he stared down the alleyway, he contemplated his next moves and the ramifications of it, before finally deciding to head to a certain persons place of residence.

* * *

 _Universal Healthcare Clinic_  
 _Twenty Minutes Later_  
 _Or rather, Now_

Tearju Lunatique was at her wits end, staring at the girl within the tank before her, shoulder wound already healing in the tank. Shizu was standing next to her, writing down the girls vitals after having removed the girls clothes to the wash, first to be processed for any information they had on them in any minute detail, then cleaned for the girl to wear when she was awakened and coherent. "This doesn't make any sense, Shizu-chan, and Mikado's notes aren't any more helpful than she is!" Tearju states, looking over the unconscious form of Haruna before her, "Nothing unusual, besides low alpha brainwaves, and low theta-gamma interaction, which is a bit worrisome..." Trying not to stress or show her fretfulness, she sighs and goes to inform the young prince of Memorize of his friends condition, when she walked into the waiting room to stumble upon yet another scene of havoc as when they had arrived with Haruna.

"Doctor!" Ren states, upon seeing the blondes entrance into the room, "We have someone else like Sairenji- it's Kokegawa!" Tearju's eyes actually widened at that, knowing the school's morals officer, Yui Kotegawa, had suddenly requested a day off of school through a medical note, to cover for someone who had gotten sick at the patisserie she worked at after school.

Pushing the gaggle of kids surrounding the girl away, she stood over the girl and checked her breathing and pulse, and was happily surprised to find that she didn't seem as worse off as Haruna. Turning to Shizu, who had followed her out after hearing a commotion, she had her help her bring Yui to another room like the one they had brought Haruna into. "Everyone, I know you are worried, but please, let me work," Tearju states as she steps out of the room, seeing a black haired boy and purple haired girl hesitate outside, while Shizu would prepare her for an examination, "Ren-dono, can you take these two out with the others, so I can examine Yui and make my prognosis?" Ren nods, having walked behind the other two to tap them on their shoulders and lead them back out to the waiting room. 'Oh, Mikado, where are you when I need that encyclopedic medical knowledge of yours?' Tearju stated with a bit of worry, hoping expect them to be back soon, 'I think I'm in too deep to figure out problems like this...'

* * *

 _Waiting Room_

"I don't like this, this is too much of a coincidence," Fumino states, as she stalks across the small waiting room and between her friends and colleagues, "First it was a classmate of Chise and I, then it was a worker at Stray Cats?" She glances up at Takumi Tsuzuki, before quickly shifting between Nozomi Kiriya, and finally landing on Chise, ignoring the fact that she had seen Takumi and Nozomi holding each others hands. "Do you think this has something to do with the Umenomori, or Masamune fortunes, or enemies of some kind?" Fumino asks, turning to the group, "Something we missed, someone who doesn't like Stray Cats Patisserie?" At that Ren scoffs loud enough to draw the fours attention back towards him.

"I'm sorry, but the fact is you're overlooking a connection between these two that don't involve you, no offense," Ren states, as he looks up at the four from the chair he was sitting in, wringing his hands together, "No, no, gods no, this has nothing to do with you humans, that's just largely a coincidence." He stands up and runs his hands over his forehead and through his hair, sighing as he does so. "Rito, damn it all, what did you all bring us into?" he mutters loudly enough for the others to here, before turning his sight on the others with a discouraged face, "I'm sorry you all had to get mixed up in this, but this is larger than the money, or human enemies; I'm afraid we're facing people who would do nothing to hurt a certain friend of ours, and the people he knows and loves." He walks past them all to stand before the door that leads back into the Doctor's office, and stops at its edge.

"Leave, go home, forget about all of this," Ren continues, fists shaking by his side in anger as he keeps talking, "For you own good, and ours." He raises one hand towards the side of the doorway, and brings it down into the wall.

 _*Crunch*_

Removing his hand from the crumbling indentation, bits of drywall, paint flecks and wood chips come away with his fist, as he ignores the pain from his unprovoked attack on the wall. "I can't ask you guys to do anything for us; you honestly can't do anything but go home and let my friends and I alert Sairenji's and Kotegawa's parents to their current status," he indicates, turning away from the door and looking back at them, "My friends will come soon, so just go home, stay safe... please." A defeated look crosses his face as his head slowly lowers while speaking to them, until he puts his head in his hands and begins to silently cry in frustration.

"Though I think you're right to ask the to go home, Ren, I think we'll have to wait for know, until they've been debriefed," a sudden voice from the entrance to the office waiting room speaks, as a gaggle of teens no older than Ren and the others, sporting Sainan High School uniforms walk in, "My name is Momo, Momo Belia Deviluke, and this is my sister, Nana Aster Deviluke," Mom introduces herself to the other four, besides Ren, with a smile, "We've informed the official channels that something has occurred; we should be hearing from the proper authorities soon, since this is by no means an ordinary kidnapping and assault." Momo goes to sit next to Ren and try and comfort and calm him down, leaving nana to face the other four now.

The pig-tailed pinkette stands by the front door and whistles to get the attention of the others. "Alright, listen up you four, I know this is odd, but can you tell us anything about the man who assaulted Yui, or anything about what happened at Shurufuku High with Sairenji?" she asks, frowning as she eyes over the four teens, noticing the cat eared looking girl somewhat hesitantly between the black haired boy and the brunette and blonde she doesn't know, her ear like tufts flattening back like she was a frightened animal, "Well, speak up!"

"The man who entered the patisserie, he came in alone and there wasn't anything stand-outish about him I really remember," Takumi states, looking at Nozomi, "Nozomi, you seemed to know something about that other man though, the one with pink eyes, who told us to come here?" Nana raises and eyebrow at that, her mouth curling upwards as she turns her predatory gaze upon the frightened girl, whose sudden change in disposition made her seem more like a mouse than a cat.

"N-n-not at a-all, I didn't know him after all, -Nya" Nozomi admits, her gaze to the floor as she couldn't meet Nana's harsh glare, "I- I thought he was my o-old teacher, -Nya; but his eyes- I don't remember them ever being pink, Nya." She feels a sudden weight on her head, her hair-tufts raise in alarm as she seemingly fluffs under the weight of Nana's hand, until the Devilukean girl gently pets her hair in a soothing repetition to soothe the scared girl down.

"It's alright, I understand he must have scared you, he must have reminded you of a tough time in your life if your reaction to some look-alike is this bad," Nana says as she continues to calmly pet Nozomi, "Trust me, I wouldn't ask you all this if it wasn't so vital, but is there a slight chance he could be your teacher; maybe he used something to hide his eyes, or draw attention away from them." Nana turns to Takumi and begins to speak to him, so as to let Nozomi finish calming down. "You said he told you to come here; it could very well be he's not from Earth, that he's an alien," Nana states while looking at him, "What about the other guy; I know you say he was unremarkable, but wasn't there some clue, something he did, or said, before Yui passed out?"

Takumi took a moment to think back, and his expression shone as he remembered something. "I thought it was weird, but I did notice before Nozomi took his order, and before that other guy came in, he was rubbing the left side of his face, like there was something wrong with it," he states, putting a hand over his eyes and force himself to concentrate, "I think- he seemed to grab the napkin dispenser and use it like a mirror, like he off handedly was observing himself for the first time." Nana sighed, trying to think of any way that could be valuable information, when she remembered something her father had told her sometime ago.

"The man, did he look scholarly, like he was some kind of scientist, or bookworm, rather than someone physically active?" she asks out of the blue, at which Takumi nodded in agreement, causing Nana to turn to her sister Momo, "Dad said a guy with pointed ears and a scar helped the Doctor escape, didn't he?" Momo's eyes widened at that implication, and she grabbed her D-dial from her pocket to open it up and search through it's contents.

"Here," Momo finally states, bringing up a holographic image from her device and putting it in front of the two, "Did the man look even remotely similar to this, taking the scar and ears out of account?" The image of a man who looked fairly similar to the one who visited their shop was being shown to them projected out of something that looked like a cell phone.

If it wasn't for the crazy day he was having, he'd be worried about all of the abnormalities of aliens being on earth,but the similarities of the man who possibly assaulted one of his workers to the man being shown on the alien wanted poster, made it easy to suspend his disbelief and awe.

"Yeah, yeah that's him," Takumi says, as Momo moves over to where Ren was standing with Chise and Fumino tending to his bleeding hand.

"And this man, is he the one too?" Momo asks, as she exchanges the picture for a similar one containing a different man and an even higher bounty on his head, "I need to know, was this the man you saw whom you believe assaulted Haruna Sairenji?"

Pink eyes, black hair, black turtleneck and white lab jacket cut off in the picture, but the man was unmistakably the teacher Ren had seen.

"Yes," Ren stated, as he carefully burned the image of the man who assaulted his girlfriend into his mind, "That man was no doubt Kanzaki Kousuke, the bastard whom..." He winced and hissed in pain as Chise dabbed a cotton swab of hydrogen peroxide over his bleeding wound, as Fumino quickly finished wrapping up the bandage afterwards.

"Good, that was what I was waiting to hear," a new voice states from the empty corner of the waiting room, a pen clicking and scribbling heard as eyes turn to the newcomer. Smiling from the once empty chair, the calm looking face of the woman sitting before the seven skittish teens,which gave a few of them quite shock. Eyes lidded as she looked over the three strangers and her brother and his girl friends, with a calm, authoritative demeanor that betrayed her normally excited and innocent nature as the most helpful person the world had ever knew: Otome Tsuzuki.

Dressed in a silver suit and pencil skirt, Otome Tsuzuki was the last person anyone who knew her would have described her as quiet, calm, or authoritative. And that was perhaps what caused Takumi, Nozomi, Fumino, and Chise to suddenly lose the mood of the room, as Nana, Momo, and Ren all tensed up at the woman's unexpected appearance where no one had even sensed the woman appear among them.

"Princess Momo Belia Deviluke, I am assistant deputy-director Otome Tsuzuki of the Joint Extraterrestrial Terrorism Taskforce; unfortunately my boss is still overseas, though I'm here to assure you that my higher ups sent me to handle this case without forcing the Deviluke government to step in," Otome states, leaning forward to smooth out her skirt with one hand as she stands, holding the clipboard she had seemingly been taking notes on with the other, and moving to stand before Momo with a smile and a handshake, "Let's talk without the children, yes?"

* * *

 _Meanwhile_

Staring up the pathway of the house, the Doctor, Kanzaki Kousuke, sighed as he looked up at the house he was currently standing just outside of at where the street meets the fence line. Slowly walking up to the doorway, stepping over a hose and some discarded gardening implements left on the front lawn, he manages to reach the door and lifts his hand to knock. After a few seconds of silence, and a scuffle from the inside, the door swung open as the Doctor looked down at the girl who answered the door.

"Yes, can I help you?" Mikan Yuuki asks, as she answers the door, a small girl heard yelling in the background, "If you're here to sell something, I'm sorry but we're not.." As she begins to close the door, the Doctor puts his hand forward to stop her from closing it while leaning down to talk to her.

"Yes, you see I have business regarding the crown Princess of Deviluke and her fiance," he states, "May I come in?"

* * *

 _Yet Elsewhere_  
 _A bit before_

Doctor Ryouko Mikado was currently residing within the equivalent of a mechanic's shops customer waiting room, though it could be called a fitting analogy, as she was getting her spaceship tuned and fuel refilled for her journey home. It had been a while since she had heard from her students, and she would have been nervous about that, except for the fact that one was a Devilukean Princess with an empire whose total dispersed wealth likely surpassed most mothers, even if they weren't considered one of the richest planets. And when the Ariesean woman whom had greeted them with armed guards walked in, Ryouko was sure that meant she was going to be escorted back to her ship as an apology for the mix up earlier.

"Arrest her, take her to interrogation cell block B," the woman, a manager named Clover if she recalled right, ordered two armed guards, who raised their weapons at her, "Doctor Ryouko Mikado, wanted for questioning and crimes linked to the terrorist organization Eden by at least a good seventeen different system-states, one of which is your own home planet." The humanoid sheep leans over towards Ryouko with a sneer on her face as the two men grab and secure her arms, locking them in place with stasis cuffs. "You are now charged with infiltration of our highly classified facility for data espionage, siphoning of highly-classified personal information, faking security scans so we couldn't detect a class-five threat onboard your ship," she states, as she roughly shoves her towards the exit with the two guards flanking her, "and as such information has come to light, we hereby are revoking your landing permits and seizing your vessel for leverage against your compatriots, until such time the proper authorities can be informed of your actions here and you are henceforth removed from this establishment." Being led away from the secure facility and knowing the kids were likely facing something as equally nuts, she hopped everything would turn out alright with a little bit of faith.

* * *

 _ **A/N: An unusual development?**_

 _ **Two Doctors, one sinister man? What does he want with Mikan?**_

 _ **Who or what is J.E.T.T., and why have the cast of**_ **Mayoi Neko Overrun _, suddenly appeared?_**

 ** _Mikado arrested? Say it ain't so!_**

 ** _What will our heroes do, when they finally learn of all of this?_**

* * *

 ** _Don't forget to leave a review, a like, or favorite, and don't hesitate to ask questions!_**


	9. Emotional Black Hole

**A/N: Been a bit, my friends. Well, here is a new chapter, which I hope raises a lot of... well, just read and find out. I do not own To Love-Ru, nor is this based on a true story. Please enjoy, and let me know how you like it.**

* * *

 ** _Somewhere_**

" _Ooohhh_...what hit me?" Rito asks, woozily sitting up as he tries to stop the ringing in his ears, "Lala- Lala, where are you?" He hears a groan from nearby, and he focuses long enough to see a figure nearby laying on the ground.

" _Tt_ - _tt_ -tch..." Lala winces, as she slowly sits up and rubs her own head, "Where are we?" Rito looks around, trying to figure that out as well, when he starts to remember how they had gotten there.

"That teleporter, it is centuries old, maybe this is a side effect of it transporting us to that... station...ugh," he complains, as he stands up on wobbly legs, "Air smells fine, ground is stable too..."

"If this station is suspended above a black hole, and time is essentially moving at a crawl around us, maybe the teleporter counted for time dilation and waited to materialize us," Lala suggested, her head clearing up a bit faster than Rito's, but still hurting, "It must have compressed us in a data loop; we could have been stored for days, even weeks, inside a pattern buffer until our full pattern was accounted for..." She stretches her body, her tail whipping around behind her as stiff joints and muscles are heard popping. "Think of it like a spring: it could have put us back together as soon as we got here while the spring was till stretched out, but the rest of us would have still been spaghettified outside the station because of the time difference, so it waited for the spring to fully compress before letting us be re-materialized in our whole bodies," Lala says with a smile, as she stands near Rito as he tries to shake the effects off, "That's also probably why the lights and heat are on, why we can breathe the air too; if this station has been inactive for centuries everything would have been stale, but the delay in our arrival probably allowed the station to analyze our data and adjust for our convenience."

Rito walked around the transmitter, realizing it was almost a double for the one that took them. "So if this was made centuries ago, why does it look so... modern?" Rito asks, looking around the room, the circuits, the walls, the lighting, "I mean, I guess technology eventually starts all looking the same, but shouldn't a society based on nature like the Taoists have built something more, I don't know, nature inspired, or something?" Lala grabs onto Rito's hand, as they both prepare to step out of the small room and past a pair of closed doors that were the only exit.

"The Taoist Pearl of Power was used to give the Taoists the powers, but it was their natures, that individual connection to certain elements that gave them their powers, if the legends surrounding them are to be believed," Lala states as they walk into a black abyss only for it to slowly light up the area around them, lights going down each side of the hallway matching their pace, "Perhaps before they had that spiritual connection to the planets they visited, perhaps they were just scientists; beings like you or I, people who while advanced, were more than curious about the nature of the universe in trying to solve their own problems."

"So creating a giant, timeless space station above a black hole was, what, a gift to their future descendants?" Rito asked a bit callously, as they walked into a large looking room that was different from the last, "They left treasures and technology behind, so the people they met in their journeys...that they affected, would look for them and inherit all of this?" Rito looked around the now fully lit room and saw every few feet of room, there were plain looking black lines in a circle on the floor, each forming a segment around a pedestal in the middle of the room. Counting them all up, he decided to move to the middle of the room and observe the pedestal at the center. Each segmented area below each pedestal led up to a separated segment of the floor that was enough for one person to comfortable walk around the middle section. On the center pedestal was a simple gray box that looked fractured, like it was filled with a hundred tiny, individual hexagons that formed the inside of the box.

"Twelve lines, one pedestal at the center, and a pinscreen-like box in the middle..." Rito starts, as he looks at the glaringly simple box sitting in the middle of the room, before turning to Lala, "Now, while I'd normally be against pushing buttons and triggering ancient traps; if you wanted someone to inherit all the secrets you left behind and an uncountable amount of time would have passed before you could witness it, would you really make it this simple?" Putting his hand on the base and pressing into it so it would make an indent with his hand, Rito felt something almost immediately.

"Ouch!" he cursed under his breath, pulling his hand away to notice blood drawn from a couple of pinpricks in the palm of his hand, "Guess that makes a bit more sense..." Rito grabs onto the edge of the box as the ground beneath them shook for a moment, Lala hopping over to the divided section of area where Rito was standing, as the floor drew away like a mechanical iris, opening to reveal a black gulf below them. "Okay," Rito states as he looks over to Lala, "Well, ancient trap it is..." Lala merely holds onto his arm, as the rumbling continues and shadowed forms begin to appear in the pit below.

Watching as the ground rises up to reveal another set of twelve separate pedestals that overshadowed the previous by literally covering them over as the new ground unfolded below them like a blooming flower. Grand entrance over with, eventually the aperture closed once more to allow freedom of movement again. "Twelve pedestals, twelve lines, and a circle...just like a clock face," Lala states, as she wanders over to look at an item contained on one of the pedals, a simple looking gauntlet with a letter engraved on it, "This must be Chronos' vault, the legendary lair that the original twelve heroes used as their headquarters during the age of the gods!" She turns to Rito, a smile lighting up her face as she giddily grabs him by the shoulders and shakes him.

"This is why they didn't want you here, and this is what the Chelidane were given to protect; why they didn't want us to come here..." she lifts up the gauntlet, observing the number engraved upon it, before gently setting it back down upon its pedestal and turning to Rito, "These weapons were the original ones Mau, his predecessor, and their predecessor, created for the twelve heroes when the age of gods were ending, and the age of heroes began!" Rito was confused at what this place meant to Lala, or how she even knew about it, and his thoughts must have been evident on his face, when Lala turned sheepish.

"I've been studying up on old legends, the fragmented histories most of the universe collectively forgot is still hidden, immortalized in their myths and legends; this vault was supposedly an ancient temple erected by multiple civilizations of the time of so-called gods, before it became Chronos' headquarters," she states, turning around the room to look at glyphs on each of the pedestals, "Ancient Taoist legend states that there were once twelve immortal beings ,whose beginnings preceded the birth of our own universe; we theorize that these 'gods' had hyper-advanced technology, and an in-depth understanding of the fundamental physics of the universe, that was used by these sublime beings to create a pathway between their universe and ours, using so called 'primal' black holes." She walks over to the center dial and turns back to Rito. "Everyone thought the weapons were commissioned for war, to combat ancient evils and unjust tyrants in this universe," she states, taking her hand and pointing a finger down, "But what if the weapons were made, not just to bring order to the universe, but restore the natural order these gods disrupted when they entered our reality?" Even one who didn't understand much about what she was babbling about, Rito could get a grasp on it because of his knowledge of Earth horror and sci-fi culture.

"You mean they were monsters, abominations whose very presence endangers the fabric of our reality?" Rito responds, thinking of all the stories he read because of his fathers work, "Nothing good happens when gods go to war...if that is why the twelve weapons were lost...were they locked away because of their own danger?" He lifts up his own hand, feeling a pulse of energy through his hand as he turns back to Lala with a look of concern. "If these weapons... if Bladix was made to kill a god, undoing their damage by causing [more] damage..." he trails off, wondering how to find the words, "The galaxy went to war over something equivocal to weapons of mass destruction..." He lets his hand drop and turns to look at Lala in exasperation and frustration. "For gods sake, your mother's people died by the hands of one who misused its power..." Rito stares down, imagining the blood shed by the weapons stored in this room. Lala walks over to hug him, the comforting presence as her arms drape over his shoulders, she soothes his confused and aching heart.

"What if I could become like them," he questions, shifting a bit as he tensed up in agitation, "If I become King I have to chose either to leave my people behind, or unleash a divided planet upon the Milky Way and beyond; whose to say my choice won't lead to that terrible future you saw..." An itch, just the slightest in the back of his head began to dig its way into his thinking. Squeezing him tightly, but not too uncomfortably, Lala removes her head from his shoulders and turns him around to face her.

"The Ninth Blade, Bladix, they weren't complete; and whatever weapons are left have been either collected here, or lost to the ravages of time," she pleads to him, trying to soothe his troubled heart, "They weren't made to last forever, and even Kuro's weapon could be destroyed... for all we know there never were any 'gods', at all and they were simply people who misused their advanced technologies to their detriment..." She lays her head against his broad shoulders, letting her hair tickle his neck as it drapes over his form. "They aren't here now, Rito, and if there was anything left of them that even held a trace of their power, it wouldn't- couldn't, fix the mistakes of the past," she smiles into his shoulder, her tail moving to wrap around his forearm and letting it rest in his hand, "I trust you; you didn't let this power you have change you, not even the removal of Adam or the destruction of the Taoist Pearls affected you so much..."

"I- you're right, I know you are, but if there's even a chance I could mess this up..." his self confidence was showing, though that itch that was slowly growing in intensity was starting to distract him a bit from his current troubles, "Sometimes I wish I could see the future, you know, fix the mistakes before I ever made them!" Lala smiles rueful at that ironic jab, and moves to take his free hand and squeeze it tightly.

"But then you couldn't learn from them, you'd be dejected, certain that you couldn't change the future anymore than you could alter your past," she states, as he meets her eyes and sees the pain in them, "I know that, firsthand; I was supposed to die, remember that I already saw that future, but already you've changed it to something else I never could have dreamed of..." That screaming ache in his head was suddenly dulled by that knowledge, and Rito's brain began to clear just as they both heard the sudden movement of a door opening somewhere behind them. Lighting up the hallway beyond the door, Rito and Lala realized that whatever it was controlling the station, it was guiding them somewhere further beyond this trophy room of lost artifacts.

"Should we follow it?" Lala asked Rito, as he nods, confirming he had composed himself.

"If we are going to figure out what else is on this station, we need to follow this to a control room, or somewhere we can access something, anything, to learn about the Taoists, the heroes, or who even built this station," Rito says as Lala follows him out into the hallway and down to a crossways, where the light stretches out on either side.

"Which way?" Lala asks, as it isn't apparent whether it splits off, or loops around. Rito looks down the left hallway and hears what sounds like machinery and engine noises, though as he goes to check the right hallway, he swear he sees the glimpse of movement, though he doesn't even see a shadow cast off by anyone but them. He turns back to Lala, to make his decision.

"If the engine room, or a control center is down the left hallway, I say we go there first, but..." He doesn't know whether to suggest the option of chasing after ghosts, but Lala makes a suggestion for herself.

"How about I visit the engine, find a computer or something I can get into, and come find you when I do," she states as she points down the right hallway, "You looked spooked when you gazed this way, so I figured your gut must be telling you something, or you saw something."

"It could be nothing, but yeah, I swear I saw something," he confesses, crossing his arms and sighing, "I mean, I know where you are going, and you know where I am going, so we can find each other fairly fast... I think splitting up is for the best, don't you?" He sees nothing but a relieved smile from Lala, and takes that as a yes. "Alright, first sign of trouble, we find the other, shout, yell, whatever it takes," Rito suggests, "You're the genius, so get to taking this station apart, alright?" He gives her a kiss on the cheek, which startles her so much she blushes, before watching him travel down the right path, the worries on his mind already forgotten as she watches him smiling confidently.

As he walked down the hallways, he felt the sterile air was harsh in his lungs, as if the system had fully activated across the station as a whole, but in parts as they explored each new section of the station. Wherever, or whatever, the station was leading them towards, he knew that it may hold some answers to why the station was abandoned over a black hole, and why the Chelidane were put in charge of guarding it, yet they themselves couldn't access it. "That is quite strange," Rito ponders, as he sees the area ahead of him is plunged in darkness, flickering as if damaged, but it became apparent as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light that the shadows held scars.

Deciding to utilize his latent power for something other than a weapon, he decides to try and use it to emit a light so that he could see better. It was cold, unnatural as his hands began to grow numb, he was worried too, since he hadn't tried to do anything with this strange power since Adam had left him, so he hoped e could control it, even if all he could manage was a simple flicker of light. What resulted was really an un-light, of sorts; the flow of energy that went from invisible waves slowly creeping like ice through his veins, to a flare of purple light that lit the shadows with an eerie tint, that grew with his attention and concentration. Blackened scorch marks lined the walls, like energy weapons had been fired off, all pointed in towards the way he was going.

"Great, walk into the creepy area, of course," he sarcastically retorts to himself, "Yeah, chasing ghosts does seem to be an apt metaphor... simile?" Ignoring his choice of wording, he decides to steel himself as he walks to the end of the hall, where it plunges into total darkness, with no light whatsoever coming from the lights in the ceiling. Pointing his hand out towards the black abyss, he tries his hardest to grow the flickering flame into a blaze strong enough to cast away the darkness.

He almost half expects to find decaying corpses, or mummified remains, down the blacked out area, but only more directed weapons fire scorch marks and a sealed door is all he finds a bit down the shorter hallway. Walking over to the door, he finds that a keypad next to it is broken, the faceplate removed and wires hanging loosely from it, like it was spliced into to make it open sometime in the past. Putting a hand to the smooth doorway he couldn't tell even with his light if it split down the middle, or slid away in one piece, but he attempted to find anything he could to get a grip on the door so he could pry it open.

Finally after five minutes of fruitless search, he managed to pry a bit of the door away by melting it away and getting his hand jammed into the resulting hole, until he could get enough of a perch to pry the sealed door and slide it open. Having sacrificed light for heat to melt the metal, he switched back to casting off an eerie glow into the room, just as his eyes landed on something resembling a light switch that still had some power in it. Instead of lighting up the room, as he had hoped, he instead found monitors around coming to life and shining their light in the room enough to make it mostly visible. Turning to the interior of the room, he sees a chair with wisps of pink hair poking out from it, and he realizes that he had seen someone.

"So, there was someone else," he says, alighted, before stepping forward to see who was crazy enough to have stuck around, "I was a bit worried, with all the lights and what not, I figure you must have been scared when you saw us, that you turned off the lights just to..." Sitting in the chair, as he walks around it while talking to the room, is a skeletal corpse of a young female with pink hair. "Eh.. _AHHHH_!" he screams out, as he stumbles back and trips over his feet, as his leg catches her long dress and causes the body to sag forward as the head just pops off and rolls just off to the side of him.

Trying not to puke, as he see scrambles away from the headless corpse and mummified remains, he puts a hand over his mouth and nose to keep from breathing the air. He notices the girl is clutching something in her hand, holding onto it tightly, but he ignores trying to figure out what it is in favor of running to find Lala, without puking and losing his lunch.

* * *

Lala, meanwhile, had gone down the well lit hallway, and found it odd that the technology seemed to stop reacting to her, though it was well maintained by all evidence. She had tried every means possible to hack the doorway she had found herself at, except it would reroute itself after a few seconds and cause her frustration as she had to start the process all over again. Perhaps what she required was something more of a refined touch...

Tasking a spot, she put the palm of her hand against it and then began to force her fingers through the metal door and rip into it like it was thick, cold plastic. Eventually she just pried it open, and the door mostly slid away, as the room beyond it lit up to reveal a control room, and a majestic window opening into space, which showed nothing but blackness, making it obvious the light was being eaten away by the all consuming black hole.

"Huh, this doesn't look right," Lala states, as she begins to observe the various readings the many monitors and such had scrolling across their screens, as she turned them on one by one as they began to access the station's data, "It almost seems like the orbit is..." Before she could continue her thoughts, Lala's ears perked at the barest hint of a scream resonating in the station's large and vast hallway. "Rito?" Lala asked questioningly, as she steps out of the room to see Rito coming down the hallway after a little bit of time had passed between the scream and his appearance, "What- what's wrong?"

Rito had ran into her arms, looking extremely pale and sick, as his scared expression met her concerned gaze. "Calm down," Lala ordered, as he began to hyperventilate, while gasping at air trying to form sentences, "Take a deep breath- there, doesn't that feel better?" Rito had nodded calmly, letting a little bit of color to return to him, as he nervously clawed at his hair and tried to explain what had caused his outburst.

"-body, corpse, mummy," he managed to spit up in a jumble, as speech escaped his reason, "Pink hair, just sitting there in the dark- hallway has scorch marks, broken door and no lighting, and I scared myself stumbling upon a body of a woman, no- a girl." The worry in her expression only increased as she got the gist of his words straight in her head. A battle had taken place here, sometime in the past, the girl had either likely died in it, or locked the door because of it, and ended up dying in a dark room when power had either failed, or had been shut it off by her attackers to quicken her death. Likely their appearance had caused a systems wide reboot, which had all but restored power in that section, likely restoring air and other functionality, too late for the girl who was little more than mummified corpse left behind by this stations former masters.

"If this was a heroes base, why would you leave a corpse behind..." Lala questions out loud, as Rito shakes his head trying to get the image out of his brain, "Well, I found this room, but nothing seems to work either..." As they walk into the room, which was the total opposite of Rito's, a sudden click is heard in the room and it's, as if the room truly came to life at his presence. The shuttering of and shifting is heard, as if the walls and ceiling, or the mechanisms behind and within, began to return to functionality, and a tone is heard as some kind of speaker systems flares to life in a screech.

" _W-w-w-w-welcome,_ " a robotic voice stutters out from around them, " _Are-are-Ark station-one-one-one-one, online._ " As they waited for more responses from the mysterious computer voice, the ceiling whirs to life as a mechanical device is lowered down from the top, it twirls around on its stand and beams of various colors of light are emitted and are scattered across the entirety of the room. Finally a small scattering of spheres made up of light are released by the machine and drift through the room, until they collect into thirteen singular points of light set up in an unknown pattern. Two rows of three spheres stood a head apart, above them on one side to the left and right another row of three spheres a handbreadth from the bottom six, the middle of each set just enough to form a triangle of sorts, with the final one perfectly centered above the twelve.

It then became clear why this strange pattern of spheres emerged, as pure white feet began to form, followed by knees, a waist, hands began to take shape, arms gained form and met at the shoulders, as the waist became an androgynous chest and continued up to the final point that morphed into a featureless face. The oblong body began to morph, from androgynous to feminine, remaining stark white and featureless still, as bodily proportions began to regulate and settle to something human like. Features began to appear on the face of the projection: a mouth, nose, and almond shaped eyes, colored gray, with a distinct 'I' tattoo on her forehead, that was then crowned with long hair of silver-blonde.

"In- _in_ -inheritor of my will, welcome to Arc _P_ -palace, my name is Sephira Arc; as my final gift to you, my children who have journeyed far to come here, I give you an idea, an organization, a place of safety for you to g-gather and plan," the voice of the ethereal beauty states, "We came to this universe originally, not to become gods, but as men and women desiring to survive the end of everything by creating a new beginning." A frown crosses the woman's face as she continues speaking. "My friends, my family... we lost everything trying to avoid our enemies view; we stole their technology, gained friends who helped us master immortality, and managed to find a universe so very close to our own!" She states happily, before losing her joy yet again, "That was because our enemies had infiltrated this reality at its very beginning, losing their physical shells to alien physics, yet I could see that one day they would rise from within this reality as mortals... weak, fragile beings that could once again restart the cycle they had begun."

The frame of the First Sword was the shown in her hand, appearing from thin air. "The way they travel through reality, one to another, rips their forms asunder and poisons the realities they enter with a foreign matter that brings nothing but pain and suffering; an unnatural strain of dark matter that is incomplete, that decays, without its opposite," she states, as the sword is replaced with another, greater sword as black as obsidian, with a moon embroidered on it, "I know what to do, of course; I must use what adamantine I can extract from this sword, and utilize it in the defense of this reality." The first is show again, though the jewel in its hilt is removed. "Eleven weapons, the first of which were made with a fraction of my adamantine reserves, have since been created using the enemies own power against them, no small compromise on my part," the woman says, "Even now a twelfth weapon is being perfected; Ark Palace has been situated over a black hole to allow almost no time to pass beyond our own, or at least very little, until my scientists can finalize its design and allow us to gather an army to face our enemies in the final battle to co-" Rito and Lala watch as the figure morphs, the image distorts into a scream as the recording cuts out and is replaced with a simple white blank slate. The figure blurs and shortens until another person replaces the previous, though the face is not too unfamiliar to either of them.

Rito almost feels the bile rising in his throat, as he realizes whom the girl is standing before him now, but the eerie resemblance to Lala is uncanny, and even recognized by Lala, who is staring at the mirror image, dressed in a ridiculously out of style dress.

"Hi...hello? Is this thing on?" a womanly voice states, as the features of the person begin to crystallize, "Ah, there it goes, the light's on..." She moves as if to adjust her position, and stands with a smile of triumph on her face. "Ok, whoever is watching this, I need to start by telling you everything: who I am, what I've done, and that everything will / _ **not**_ / be alright," a woman with the face of Lala states, a few years older than the Devilukean Princess, and seemingly lacking her tail, "My name is Lala, Lala Lilia, and I am hacking this recording from the auxiliary control room to leave a message for you to find, if and when you manage to find it." The woman looks beaten, bruised and bleeding, blood from a cut going down her face. "Sephira Arc, Arc Palace, it's a trap, for you, for your people, and he was counting on you falling into this galactic pitcher plant," the woman states, as her picture cuts out, before stabilizing, "He allowed Sephira to believe she had free will, that she had escaped his notice, but she didn't, and the only reason I am is because of my secret invention, and my own feelings, that keeps me defying the voices crowding out my head..." Lala and Rito look at each other, as the figure smiles sadly at them. "He wanted her to create the weapons, so one day his own people could have an unlimited arsenal that spanned infinite timelines," the woman continues, as she grips her left arm at the elbow with her right, "Sh- _ **k**_ ~ _i_ ' _s_ horde, they attacked us hours ago, began converting the people aboard to turn them; Sephira couldn't defend us without the sword, but I could use my creation to hide myself away just long enough for them to overlook it, because my Secret Weapon wasn't something he was expecting to have been completed in such a short time..."

"What is it?" Rito asks the recorded projection, "Who is this 'he', she's referring to?" Lala shushes Him, so as to listen to this older doppelgänger.

"I managed to save a portion of the adamantine used in the creation of the First Sword; not enough to draw attention to anything being amiss, but enough I could create an item that will prove to be more useful than any sword," the girl smiles wickedly at that, the satisfaction of knowing she pulled one over on her pursuers showed clearly in her face, "It's..." The projection froze as the power shut off and the station under them began to rumble beneath them, as metal began to tear in some area of the massive space station. "...find it there, on my person," the woman states, "He'll never expect it when you use it, and that overconfidence will be his undoing; so, Hero, you have the potential to become a Hero, but will you trust me?" With that, the signal ends, the transmission cut short, either by the loss of power, or interference, everything was lost between those words.

"What was that?" Rito asked, as Lala moved over to a computer to begin trying to figure out its interface, "She said something about a trap..." Lala looked up from the computer's interface, her face grim, as she turns to let Rito get a look at what it showed.

"Our orbit is decaying ever since we arrived, one system has been failing after another right under our noses; it was probably an isolated program kept inside the transporter's systems until the transmat had to interface with the station and infected it," Lala informs him, as the station's projected route is straight into the black hole, within twenty minutes, "You need to go and save the weapons they left behind in the vault; I counted four or five, I think, while I try and figure out where her 'secret weapon' is located...". Rito put his foot down at that.

"No, the thirteenth item was entrusted to me, Lala, not you; even if you found it, there's something about me that makes me worthy, so it may not even recognize you as it's owner in that case," Rito tries to be diplomatic and sound reasonable, and it works. Lala sighs, stopping and turning to put her arms around him and give him a big kiss, pulling away to stare him down with a serious expression.

"I'm going to be waiting on the transmat, for you, and won't leave until you get there," she states, as she turns to leave, Rito watches her leave. He puts his hands to his head, and begins to walk out of the room and back towards the darkened hallway.

' _Damn it, this isn't what I wanted to do,_ ' Rito thinks to himself, as he alights the hallway once again, ' _She locked herself away, died to keep her secrets; this miss Lilia didn't deserve to die alone like that._ ' Walking through the dark hallway, the illumination of the monitors in the room spilled out to bring some light he could see as he walked into the room. Taking a deep breath, Rito goes to stand in front of the mummified corpse, and looks her over to see where she could have put the item. His eyes turned to her left hand, where he sees her closed fist was tightly closed and half hidden between her knee and the chair. "I'm sorry," he states, as he grabs the cloth around her arm to free her hand from the folds of her dress, "Forgive me for this, miss." He notices something shift and fall free from her hand after trying to dislodge the corpse, so to be safe he decided to try and remove whatever it was in her hand without breaking it. Eying a shiny red bauble dangling from her withered hand, he reaches for it and feels a bit of a sparking jolt of energy between his touch and the item she held onto.

As if igniting a flame from some smoldering ember, the purplish haze signifying Rito's power in use, turns into a brilliant and hellish purple that seems to consume the decayed figure of the former creator. As he releases the bauble from his grip out of surprise, the mummified corpse is quickly engulfed and obscured by the purple blaze, as it covers and spreads to every inch, forcing him to watch in twisted fascination as if he expects it to consume the room.

Instead the cold blaze begins to sputter out and die, as the figure engulfed suddenly reverses its flames and strips them away, starting from the same hand it reveals a healthy complexion where once was simply dead flesh. Eyes closed, face contorted as if simply asleep, and a crown of long pink hair is restored; a doll dressed like a living girl sits in place of the corpse.

To Rito the girl seemed to be asleep, though she quickly betrayed his expectations as she opened her closed eyelids with a flutter, to reveal to shining pink orbs that cause his heart to skip a beat, as he was met with the image of what he imagined a younger Sephie Deviluke looked like. She suddenly smiles as she gazes up at him, before stepping up from her chair and ghosting a hand over his cheek, yet refraining from touching him. "So similar..." she croaks out, before covering her mouth at the sound of her own voice and laughing into her hand. Rito is a little freaked out, but the girl merely walks past him and towards the machines and computers behind him.

"Who are you?" Rito asks, "How are you alive?" The girl ignores him as she begins to type into the monitors and the machines, before looking up at the darkness that surrounded them. She turned back to him with a smile that grew ever more eerie in his poisonous light.

"I apologize for the lights, I isolated everything to accept only my vocal commands; once I realized everything was unfolding faster than I had anticipated, it became necessary," the woman says, as she stares at monitors and influxes of data on the screens, "System command: turn light's on, display current trajectory of station, and estimate remaining time before entering point of no return." In favor of ignoring his question, she waits for a response from the machines around her.

"Ark Palace- situation: critical," a monotone voice rings out of the auxiliary computer banks, "Descent into point of no return estimated to be six minutes, thirty-two seconds, estimated time from auxiliary control room to transporter estimated at under two minutes; though safe transporter activation requires an estimated four minutes and thirty-five seconds." Lilia looks from the computer to Rito and frowns, as she realizes that the time would be impossible to safely return back to the other side.

"I'm sorry, Rito, I don't have time to explain how I'm here," this other Lala states, "I'm a scientist, this bracelet was my magnum opus , and you will use it to change the world, I just know it..." She walks over to him, removing the bracelet from her hand, she places it in the palm of his hand without a protest. "You can't do it here, not now at least, so go and become the hero he couldn't," she states, as she turns around and slowly begins to disintegrate before his eyes, from the hem of her dress upwards, she slowly began to break apart like a crystallized illusion.

"What about my Lala, she is supposed to be on the transmat pad, can we... can we activate it from here?" Rito asks, turning to Miss Lilia, "If I can't make it back, she has to!" Lilia purses her lips at that, and sighs, walking over to him and putting her hands on either side of his head and kiss his forehead.

"You need to have more self-interest, little hero," she says, as she pulls away and lifts her left hand up to reveal it breaking apart into crystal dust, "I thank you for giving me a chance to redeem myself, but you are correct; I can't let her feel the pain I felt losing my beloved Sorato, so in exchange I ask that you promise me you'll try and make it back home." He goes to take her other hand, to stop her, but she glides her hand over his and gently touches the shining bracelet in his palm. "You have the power of Dark Energy inside you, enough to alter a fundamental force like time; use it and promise me you'll get back home, ok?

She says it with a smile, as the breakage reaches just below her waist, and begins to speak to her computer system even as she falls to pieces before him. "Initialize remote override of the transmat system, one to beam to Quadrant Sigma Five Alpha, authorize passenger to have clearance level digamma-omega, and initialize mass transport!" Lala Lilia states, as she turns to Rito with the damage reaching the area of her breasts, "Go, Rito, go and never look back... stop the darkness from consuming this universe in its foolish desire-" Rito is already running down the hall, stumbling in the dark, before reaching the end of the hallway and the trophy room where all the weapons had been kept.

He had just under a minute to get to the transporter room and safely leave with Lala. Unfortunately it appeared like something had caused the station to go haywire, the iris floor having been warped in pockets and utterly impossible to safely cross. "Damn it," Rito cried out, as he looks for some way to cross, the gravity well having already begun to warp the lower levels of the station, resulting in this impassable crevice. He could try and cross it, but the terrain was going to slow him down. "I- I'm not going to make it, am I?" he says to no one in particular, "Lala... Lala, I'm sorry..." Falling to the floor, he laughs humorously at the situation

* * *

 _Transmat_

Lala feels something is wrong when the room around begins to whir to life just after a massive shake following a large rumbling of creaking metal from below her feet. She can't help but imagine the lower levels of the station colliding with the edge of the black holes accretion disk, which would mean that the time it was taking for the station to get sucked in would be quickly decreasing with every passing moment they were sucked through the buffering zone. "Rito, where are you?" she asks herself, while the sounds inside the room was steadily growing, as if it was preparing itself to activate, "Come on Rito..." The weapons were scattered about her, each of the five items were shaking a bit with the station, but the amount they were doing that was noticeable enough to worry her greatly. Before she could even understand what was happening, the transport device turned on, and Lala realized a discrimination field had activated around the transporter pad and the station.

It was a wall of energy, as Lala found out, trying to break through it with all of her strength, but the stations designs must have included kinetic absorbers, for the shaking around her had stopped. It was likely due to temporal discriminators isolating her from the local space time field to prepare her for a return to normal space time. She was too late, and so was Rito, if the presence of the field was any indication. Rito was too late to return home...

She would never see him again.

Before she could even begin processing that, something large and indescribable slammed into the force field as she stood there, causing her to fall back in shock. "What the heck?" she stated, as she focused on a blurry, shadowy figure that stood at the edge of the transmat.

* * *

 ** _No._**

Rito stops crying, rubbing the tears from his eyes and standing on his own two feet to walk back over to the doorway. He promised Lala he would get back to her, that he would be there before she was sent home. Time may not be on his side, but he would be a damned fool if he didn't try.

"Besides," he said to himself, as he formulated a plan, "...might as well see what I can do too."

Gathering the energy in his hands, to do something, anything at all, he concentrated and brought the shadowy substance into his grasp. Putting his hands together as more and more of the shadowy energy coalesced into something firmer, as he imagined and stretched his concentration beyond human limit and understanding, he felt as if he could stitch together the shadows into something useable. So he did.

First, covering the soles of his feet, he covered himself up to his torso with shadows, until his very form became engulfed in the darkness he once feared. So cold, yet so very comforting, he felt the familiarity of the energy that Nemesis produced, that Golden Darkness exuded in adult form, and the power was more easily handled as if he were still benefiting from Adam's control over the elusive and slippery substance.

And so with a little bit of faith, and a lot of hope, Rito Yuuki took one step out into the dark, and found a foothold in the shadows no mortal man could have. He was walking on air, the shadows themselves becoming his footholds as power slowly drained from the station, his chances of getting through to see Lala, in what was to be their final moments, had suddenly grown exponentially. And so Rito ran, he ran over air like it was turf in a football field, down a pitch black corridor that seemed brighter than when it was lit, into a blinding room where he tripped over his own two feet.

 _WHAM_

He felt the spark of energy where none had been before, and when he opened his eyes in the light, only to be blinded by what he assumed was her heavenly radiance, Rito looked up at Lala with rings of light behind her head, as the adrenaline finally left his system, and his control over the shadowy energy dispersed just like that.

"RITO!" Lala cried out with joy, as she realized as the shadows faded from view that the figure of her fiance was made visible, "You made it." He felt his words for her hitch in his throat at that utterance, but a fleeting moment of happiness broke them free.

"Of course, I'll always be here for you..." he states with an uneasy smile, knowing his tie left was reduced, as he put a hand to the energy field, "But this... is new." Lala smiles, and laughs at his silliness.

"It's a temporal discriminator field, it's alright, it's just to make sure we don't get temporal aphasia from improper adjustments," Lala states, as she had deduced its functions like that, "I mean, falling into a black hole's gravity well means time slows down to nothing, so it would be dangerous if all of your atoms suddenly went from three dimensions to one on a trip back..." She smiles, and puts a hand over his own. "So..." she says, as she looks at him, "Come on, get inside before the transporter fires up, so we can go home together, Rito."

She said it as if it were the simplest thing in the world, and yet he wouldn't have expected anything less as she was still that naive, innocent girl he had met in his bathroom all those years ago.

Closing his fist tightly, as he grimly smiles and looks up at her to meet her smile with his hidden, confused emotions. Yet that terrified look of finality in those eyes, was exposed to her like he was when he was sitting naked in that same tub years before.

"No." she said, as her perfect smile dropped. "No, _**no**_ , I can't..." She slammed her fist into the force field as she saw his mask drop with that first tear. "Rito get inside, **_please_** , before it's too late," she tries to bargain with him, "Drop the field, we still have time, we can both..." He punches the field with a fist crackling, alight with dark matter, burning as fierce as the sudden fire in his eyes, she notices.

"No, there's not a snowball's chance in hell I'm letting you suffer here, with me," he states, as he steps back and faces her with his own raw emotions, "You can't be selfish, I can't be selfish; I won't risk it, when you should know it takes more time than we have to both get back home safely..." He smiles, truly this time, as he slides to his knees, followed by Lala. "I'm sorry, Lala, I can't make it home right away," he states, as he looks up and puts his hand back on the invisible wall, "Tell Celine I love her, Mom, Dad, that I won't be graduating, and make sure my sister knows she doesn't have to grow up too fast..." Her tears are starting to flow now, as she lets her arms flop uselessly to her sides. "Tell Nana I wasn't such a beast after all, tell your father and mother I can't keep my promise to become the greatest man worthy of you, and make sure your sister knows I forgive her," Rito continues, as the weighty words on his hearts just burst forth, "Make sure Saruyama knows he needs to straighten up for that girlfriend of his, and tell Haruna, Run, Ren, and all the others not to mourn me, and to finish their graduation ceremonies for me with the biggest damn smiles on their faces too."

The metal creaks again, and Rito knows time is running out, as he feels the largest shadow he's ever felt, the greatest terror and emptiness, looming just out of reach, an icy pit in his stomach the only feeling as he says his final words. "And you, Lala, I don't expect you to move on right away, or even find a perfect guy, you know?" he states, with a bit of a chuckle, "But don't wait for me, don't ruin your life, if it just means your unhappy; be happy, for me, please, and know I didn't want any of this-"

 _WHAM_

This time it was her that scared him, as he looked up to see her fists, both on the wall as she cried, tears streaming down her face as she pounded away at the wall without letup, even as he watched the light, the energy begin to grow in the machine above her while she remained unaware, solely focused on his figure in the dark. "Please, Rito, don't go," she states, "Don't leave me too..." He put his ringed hand up to the wall, one last time, as she overlapped her own ringed hand.

"Never," he states in response, "As long as that stone shines my color, know I'll always be there for you, alive in your memory; alive in your heart..." He says that with a genuine smile, and she can't help but laugh at his cheesiness. "Lala, don't forget how we are bound," he states, as he looks at the pink and orange jeweled ring, that bound their unmarried future, "I will always carry a piece of you inside me, bound forever with this ring; a red string led me back to you, bound our lives together, a symbol of our mutual love..."

He felt the burning in his chest as he spoke, a nest of bees hammering away at his heart as he spoke, the heat of his ring on his hand growing with each drumbeat. "Together from our first moment-" he chokes out, as the light washes over her and takes her away from him, "-from our first moment, to our last..." He felt as the wall of invisible light gave way, falling forward while crying, onto his hands and knees, feel as if a piece of his heart was ripped right out of his chest. As the light dims all around him, as the stations last gasp of power was taken along with Lala's escape, Rito is left stranded, alone, in the dark.

His heart and head both hurt, a pounding rush in his ears, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Putting his ringed hand to his chest, he lays down on the empty platform to await the inevitable, as the station slowly collapsed below him. A small glimmer of light escaped his hand, as he forced the power into his ring, bringing some measure of comfort in the dark as a sparkling display of pink and orange stretched out into the dark to shine on the ceiling above him like twin stars in the dark.

It was almost comforting, seeing the symbol of his love shining out like that. Almost.

* * *

 _Transmat Room_  
 _Sometime after Lala and Rito's sudden disappearance_

"Tell me where they went," a sheep like woman stated, as she stood impatiently grilling a large turtle like alien, "The transmat, where did it place them, Acan?" The Chelidane smiled, one of its eyes are black and blue from being roughed up in the initial assault.

"I would never tell you, or any of the council for that matter, we've all lived far too long to not know exactly where it was I sent them," the Chelidane coughed out, a wheezing breath that was forced with the crack in his shell making it hard on his lungs, "The council locked away the heroes items for their dark master for far too long, and now the universe is losing all of its hope..." He smiled, as he watched the impatient woman who managed the bank turn bright red underneath her woolly exterior. "No more, they both will learn of their legacies, of the false gods and the heroes that slew them..." he stops, as a fist from one of the security guards cracks into his ribcage, making the impact widen it with each hit, "...b-ut, they'll make it... and may the universe have mercy on us all..."

As they talked, the manager sheep woman, Clover, grew more and more impatient at the lack of answers from an uncooperative man such as this. It was time for her to switch tactics. "Guard," she called out, turning to the one by the door, who approached to hear her out, "Retrieve Brightwool and our other intruder from deep containment, bring them here so we can show the former minister of security we mean business- and don't even think about touching my subordinate, you brutish swine." The guard nodded, leaving to retrieve the two women from where Clover had incarcerated them, while Clover smirked in satisfaction at the change in Acan's pained expressions at the mention of his precious 'daughter', and she relished in it greatly.

"Now, where were we..." Clover states, as she stands to face Acan and crosses her hands over her chest, to lean over and face the Chelidane head on, "How can we access the transmat's controls and force a return?" At that, Acan laughed, before being seized by a forceful, bloody cough from no doubt a punctured lung.

"I- _wheeze_ \- I can't tell you, because- because there is no secret way," the Chelidane wheezes out painfully, "Only they can return-" The Chelidane stops, as does the Ariesan, whom both look to the transmat as a sudden burst of sound and light alerted both to something new.

As smoke cleared from the explosion, the form of someone standing on their hands and knees was seen on the platform, her red tail draping down around her feet which was surrounded by a couple of strange pieces and odd items.

"Princess Lala?" Clover stated in surprise, before her smile turned malicious and her voice sickly sweet, "Princess, we were looking for you..." She clasps her hands together, and slowly walks over to where the princess lay on the transmat, and she noticed the Devilukean had tears streaming down her face. "Where did you go your majesty, and where is that human, your fiance?" she asks carefully, trying to see what was going on, "What did you find, and, most importantly, are you... okay?" Her eyes danced over the baubles ad odds and ends, and finally notices what they really were. "You... you brought back the heroes weapons?" she says with astonishment, as her grin grows bigger, "If your fiance doesn't come back, well, at least we can recoup some of our losses if the princess 'suddenly disappears' as well, and even if Deviluke cuts ties with us; it's a pity it is too dangerous to let you and your friends live now."

 _Lala's Pov_

Lala doesn't even react, but she feels her hand graze over one of the items that had fallen to the wayside. She grasps it as Clover was talking, and brings it in front of her face, as the woman's words ring empty in her ears. "...it's a pity it is too dangerous to let you and your friends live now." It was those words that break Lala free of her grief induced stupor, and for the first time in a while, Lala feels something bubble up in her heart that she had locked away long ago after witnessing her Father's power at a young and impressionable age, before her sisters were even a thought. Putting it on her right hand, the item bearing the numeric letters 'VII', she looks up at the woman who just proclaimed her a dead woman, just after she had lost the only one she had ever truly loved.

 ** _"Why?"_**

* * *

 _Outside the Security Minister's Room_  
 _Later_

Ryouko Mikado and Brightwool were handcuffed and led by one of the security officers to just outside the room. Just before the security guard could knock the door opened to reveal the banks manager, Clover, standing there with a frown on her face and arms crossed. Ryouko feared the worse, and the cow-eyed ewe that stood next to her, was shivering on her cloven hooves. It was then that the Ariesan manager's faced changed as she fell to the floor unconscious, shocking the three standing at the doorway as the woman was left sprawled out on the floor.

"Manager!" the officer states as he goes to check on the unconscious woman, though he feels a shadow of dread be cast over him, as he looks up just in time to see someone else fill the spot where his boss had stood. A sharp punch from a bloodied gauntlet, speckled by the bodily fluids of others already, the fist returns to the side of its owner and Ryouko looks up in shock from both unconscious victims to see the shadowed form of a grief stricken, red eyed Lala Satalin Deviluke.

With bodies of unconcious security officers piled in the room just behind her, and the tears running down her face, Ryouko knows better than to ask what happened as Brightwool passes her to go for the elder Chelidane, whom was laying untouched but wounded inside among the others. Mikado quickly passes a stunned Lala to help look over the Chelidane man bleeding out onto the floor, as he gasps out in pain, with his loved one nearby.

"It's alright, my dear, I'll be fine," Acan laughs, before putting a three fingered hand up to Brightwool's face, "Take the folder from my bottom desk drawer, go with- _cough_ -with the princess, live, and bring it all to King Gid..." He closes his eyes for the final time, and the Ariesan girl is left sobbing into his frame, while Ryouko feels a wet tapping on her shoulder. She turns to look over her shoulder, to thr emotionally shocked Lala, whose joy has visibly left her face to leave a blank slate drained of any hope.

"Mikado Sensei," she says, as she holds a couple other items she picked up in the meanwhile, all in her non gloved hand, "Let's go home, please."

 _ **A/N: Well, been a bit, but I finally have a true endgame for this story. Expect to get answers soon. Farewell for now, my friends, don't forget to review, favorite, and follow! Edit: tried to clean it up a bit. Also, adding**_ _ **a disclaimer that I do not own TRANS Boy, nor Black Cat.**_


	10. The Job: Part 3 The Forgotten Chapter

_**Edited 9/14/19**_

 _ **A/N: I- Honestly, somehow this chapter got lost in the story process... If you're reading this post 9/14, you'll notice this chapter has been updated. I skipped an entire chapter that is somewhat necessary and vital to this story.**_

 _ **I completed this chapter, like, back in April... dang, man...**_

 _ **How the flipping seven wonders of this world did I skip this chapter?**_  
 _ **I blame April Fool's day...**_

 _ **As always I do not own To-Love Ru, Rito, Lala, Black Cat, etc, etc, disclaimer disclaimed...**_

 _ **"Beautiful Dreamer"**_

* * *

 _Calpris Minora-β_  
 _Orbital Station_

"To what do I owe the self proclaimed head of the galaxy contacting we few remaining of the Shadow Chapter, formerly of Talhain Triumvirate?" a voice states to a recipient sent over the trans-galactic communications network, their face framed in darkness, and visage hidden by the shadows, "Surely you did not call to offer your help in returning us to our former glory..." In the view screen, the figure of King Gid Deviluke, sitting on his throne, laughs before becoming a serious expression.

"No, faceless one, I do not dabble with the dark when the corruption I can see is enough to turn my stomach," Gid replies quite harsh, but truthfully of the corruption within Talha's borders, "I have called to ask safe passage into your so-called 'holy land' inside the Dark Sea, Calpris Minora-"

"No, now unless you have something important discuss, then, I am afraid I must insist that you forgo your usual political propaganda in this case, King of Deviluke," the faceless shadow retorts, before the King could even finish his sentence, much to the clear irritation of the latter, "The Talhain Galaxy is ruled by the Assassins Guild, the Shadow Chapter in turn has been given absolute right to control the border of the Dark Sea and all pilgrimages to Calpris." The figure leans in towards the transceiver, and Gid could just tell it was smiling behind its mask. "No one may go or enter without the Triumvirate's approval; not even you, 'm'lord'," they say, "Do not approach our space with your vessels, or we will be forced to repel you from our borders." At that they cut off communication with the King of Deviluke, as another person stepped out from the shadows to reveal themselves.

"Do you think that was wise, resisting the King of Deviluke like that?" a young woman asks, adjusting her glasses and holding out an information device for her superior, "You are the Voice of the council, the Ears listen to your wisdom, and the Eyes themselves see your words in action..." The woman removes and takes her bosses informal robe, which had hidden their face and expressions from the King of Deviluke on purpose, before walking over to a mirror where a full face mask sits upon a dummies head.

"And, if I were to allow any self proclaimed 'King', into our most holiest of sites, I would have no reason to disallow the common masses their pilgrimages," the Voice states in rebuttal, as the attendant grabs the mask from its pedestal and slips it over their head, "I am the Voice, which means my words carry weight heavier than any King, and the secrets we each keep, both from ourselves and our peoples, are more dangerous than you yet realize, apprentice." Adjusting things here and there to make it comfortable, the reflective mask hid their face entirely from view, obscuring their physical features and sex from the casual onlooker, and would then begin overlaying their voice with one that makes it seem both male and female when activated. It was there that the apprentice helped them into the cloak, which was large enough to hide their remaining physical features from view, as it did for their other two compatriots.

"Now," the Voice says, their tone changing as the masks effects begin to alter their true voice with one that is both male and female, a flat undertone warbling through both, "Tell me of the ship we have detected..."

"It is an unknown classification, not registered in the Talhain Assassin's Guild's database, but that could mean it is extra galactic in origin, perhaps a visitor from another galaxy," the apprentice states, as she follows her boss out of the room and through a long and winding corridor, a different path scheduled to be taken each day to ensure none of the three main inhabitants of this building ever cross paths on accident, "Signal identifier tags it as the Lunatique but no ship is listed in the registry database under that name, so it could be a bounty hunter's, or a stolen ship."

"No; not the Lunatique," the Voice states, as it approaches a pair of majestic wooden doors, pausing before going to open the heavy barriers to her destination, "Azenda, the former Tyrant, she once spoke of going for revenge on that vessel's captain... something about a 'public humiliation'..." A smile formed on their face, underneath their mask "Perhaps our 'dear' sister has decided to return home, then, after all..." That person continues to stay still in their steps, as if pondering something before making their decision, "Permit them to land, and we will decide then." The woman bows in recognition, before opening the door for her boss, and the two entered into a large and spacious courtroom.

Two other occupants of the room, as well as their attendants, stand at the seat of judgment, as their third member takes their place as head of the triumvirate. "All assembled may take their places," another attendant states, a large man that had already been standing before a throng of people, "The listening Ear will hear even your meekest plea, the impartial Eye shall cast it's gaze upon both sides, while the judicious Voice shall pass final judgment upon your cases." Raising a hand to the three, who stand at equal height atop a tall podium, the Voice raises its own hand in turn.

"The first case shall be heard!" the Voice states, as a devious smile crept up underneath their masked visage, "Rejoice, and let your words be heard by the Triumvirate!"

Edge of the 'Dark Sea' region  
Talha Galaxy's seventh arm

"This is suspicious as heck," Black Cat states out loud, what the others are already thinking, "They didn't even let us hail them and explain the situation out."

"It is quite likely we were expected," Yami replies monotonously, as she notices Azenda in the corner of her eye, "Quite a coincidence, isn't it?" Four pairs of eyes turn to look over at the woman, whose back is turned to them as she stares out into the inky blackness before them, a thumbnail in her mouth as her anxiety rises.

"There are no coincidences when it comes to the Triumvirate," Azeda confesses, as she scowls while noticing her dirty habit, "They knew I would be returning, like some simpering dog returning home for a scolding by its master..." Noting the hostility in her voice rising as she speaks frantically, they all step back to give her some space. "The Triumvirate, and that blasted Seer of their's..." her disgruntled rage turns into mumbling as she turns to Yami to stare at her with a face of irritation, "They mocked me, you know, for leaving the only real home I ever knew, since I had already came back defeated after the first time you and I had faced off, Golden Darkness." Yami's eyes opened in surprise as Azenda towers over the younger girl, getting all up in her face, before the stressed, former assassin steps back and rubs a growing crease in her forehead.

"Ladies, ladies, I know we are all just a little on edge, but come on," Kuro states, as he steps between the two girls and draws their attention to himself, "We needed access to the Dark Sea, they let us in, Gid couldn't get it for us, but Azenda, you being here helped us immensely..." He turns to Azenda. "If you were not here, the Triumvirate wouldn't have given us a second thought, so thank you, for bearing with us; we all know how difficult it is to face our past..." Kuro looks grim for a moment, as Yami stills at those words as well, but he brightens up and turns back to Yami, "We need to figure out what that crazy dream of yours was about, and if we aren't too late, ensure that the Anarchist's Beryl is still safely secured by the Triumvirate."

At that Mea clears her throat, turning three pairs of eyes to the front of the ship, where she had been watching over the controls and monitors for the Lunatique's AI. "Estimated time of arrival is three hours, people," Red Headed Mea states with an amused smile, "If you all can keep it together until we land planet side, I believe we can all stretch our legs and work our stress out."

Yami and Kuro break away from Azenda, both heading for the front of the ship, while Mea goes to join Azenda in the comfortable center of the ship. Azenda was busying herself making a snack out of some food, while Mea chose to lounge across a couch that had been bolted to the floor, near the table. When Azenda sat down to eat her hastily prepared snack, she was getting stared at by the bored TRANS weapon, whose head was upside down as she stared at the frankly irritated former assassin.

"What?" Azenda finally asked, as Mea turned over onto her stomach , "What is with you?" Mea just smiled, as she kicked her feet up and propped up her head, like a normal high school girl who learned something juicy and was about to excitedly share the details with her friend.

"Nothing much, just curious," Mea responds with a sly grin, "You had to have some reason you left such a cushy life behind, after all, I couldn't imagine little orphan Azenda being kicked out for bad behavior and becoming an assassin queen just for the laughs." Azenda sighs, quickly realizing the girl wasn't going to leave her alone, not any time soon, at least.

"Very well, if you desire to know, then know that the Shadow Chapter is not an organization one makes a commitment to lightly, and usually it is one held for life," Azenda begins, "It is the children, whom are gathered by the chapter from all over Talha, that become the inheritors of the secrets of the past..."

On a cold, stone floor, a young, broken girl dressed up in rags is seen kneeling, bloodied, bruised and weeping over her mothers cooling corpse, as a man with a metal rod and the stink of alcohol is shouting to the winds about the crying child in the nearby room, telling it to shut up. Before the man can lumber, a drunken, slovenly mess seeking in anger to silence the child, the young girl throws herself upon the man to keep him from hurting her newborn sister, until the man raises the metal rod to bring it down on the girl another time. It was in that confusion, and the darkness of the open window, that the sudden and loud crack resounds through the room, as something grabs the rod out of the darkness, and tugs the man through the open window. The sound of his body hitting the street below, a three story fall, is muted, as a shadowed figure creeps in from the darkness and stands tall and inhuman, in front of a shocked and frightened child, who had just witnessed her father's 'accidental' death. Before she could say anything, the masked figure put a hand to the girls mouth, before gently grabbing her in a pair of arms and wrapping her in a discarded blanket.

Before she could protest, the mewling of a frightened infant cries out from the next room and draws the attention of her savior. Leaving her for what seemed like mere seconds, the shadowed figure quickly returns with an infant child swaddled in her arms, before approaching her and taking her by the hand.

The figure had escaped with the both into the cold, damp night, the little girl shivering in the thin rags and blanket all the while she ran through puddles of water while being tugged and urged on by the large, warm hand that dwarfed her own. It was the whip at her savior's side that drew her eyes, as she fled into that dark, a damp, unknown future ahead of her.

"Years later I had become a young woman, and the baby, a young and curious child," Azenda continued, "The assassin, my former savior, had long since left us in the care of a Shadow Chapter orphanage on one of the outlier worlds." She looked over to Mea, who was enraptured by the story Azenda was weaving for her. "There isn't much else to tell, honestly, beyond this," she states, "One day a very powerful, very wise man came and took my last family member away from me, while I was kicking and screaming, trying to get them back." Azenda's face turns hard at that, and Mea notices the grip on her whip tighten. "I had a family there, the people loved me and I them, but when the Shadow Chapter took my brother away; I left there a broken girl with vengeance in my heart, was eventually found by my Master, and then joined the Talhain Assassin's Guild from there," she ends her story, "When I became the Tyrant Queen, I used what power I had to approach Calpris Minora, and they refused to tell me anything about what happened to my brother, but they took the opportunity to break my last illusion about them."

Mea was curious, but she didn't let it show, as Azenda spilled her story. "They explained that they had hired the assassin to kill my family and retrieve my brother, alone, and that he had failed his mission when he had sent us to an orphanage," Azenda finally finishes, a sad smile on her face, "Apparently he had a rule about targets with children, and he had broken his own rules when he learned that the order hadn't been overly truthful in their request; that man had tried to give me some happiness with my brother before he was taken away from me... I never could really hate him."

"Zagine, Zagine Axelox, my old Chronos master," Kuro suddenly states in a soft voice, surprising both Azenda and Mea from the cockpit of the spaceship, "He told me once he had botched a job about some kidnapper in Talha, but skipped the galaxy when he learned the truth; always said he wouldn't make that same mistake again when he was teaching me how to bring out Number XII's full potential... guess he was wrong then, too." Kuro doesn't elaborate anymore, but Azenda gets up and shakes off the past, just like that.

"As it was, that was long ago, perhaps this time I can get the answers I have always been searching for," Azenda states with a smile, as Mea stands up as well, "Even if it's just punching the bastards who stole my brother away, I'll find my contentment soon enough."

"Good, because we're here," Yami states, as she steps into the room with the others, followed by the Lunatique's AI, that jagged smile and eyes following it's master like a lovesick puppy, "The Lunatique is in standard orbit over the planet, and the observation station the Triumvirate uses is a shuttle ride away..." She looks around the room at her companions, as they all look at her for their orders now, as she was chosen by King Gid to lead this group on their expedition.

"It's funny," Kuro interrupts as he passes by a window looking upon both the station and the world below, "Doesn't look much like a planet; it almost seems closer in size to a moon." Everyone looked at him in annoyance at the interruption, Yami especially, so he put up his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright, sorry for trying to break the tension," Kuro retorts in jest, "It was just an observation."

"I know everyone is anxious, I'm the last person to be reassuring all of you that everything is going to go all right, but this rag-tag group of ours: former assassin's, former sweepers, killers with more blood on our hands than we could ever hope to atone for," she starts off, before sighing, "I'm a weapon, my sister's are too, and you both, Kuro and Azenda, know how easy it is to become the person people paint you out to be..." Kuro nods, while Azenda puts a hand on her left arm and squeezes it. "We can't be those people right now, we didn't ask to be heroes, but the King, multiple galaxies, needs us to ensure this weapon doesn't fall into the wrong hands," Yami states, trying her best to encourage them all, "If it comes down to it, Mea, Kuro, I expect you to both to fight, I will too, but before that; Azenda..." Yami turns to Azenda, swallowing as she does so, composing herself. "I know you don't have the best feelings around this place; it was both your home, and the place that took your family away, but I need your help to be as diplomatic as possible, before we end up in a bloodbath for both sides," Yami states with confidence, as Azenda nods with a wry, yet unsure, smile, "The galaxy is waiting, so let's see what we can do..."

"Request denied," the Voice responded, as Azenda stood before the tribunal of three, horror dawning on her face, as the others watched with similar expressions behind her, "The Party consisting of: Azenda the former Tyrant, Red Headed Mea, the infamous Black Cat of the former inter-galactic organization Chronos, and the living weapon, the planet killer, Golden Darkness, has been barred from entering the most Holy of sites upon Calpris Minora's shores." Three blank faced masks looked impassively over the assembled crowd of people, as whispers broke out among the courtrooms at the impossibly fast decision between the three fair and righteous judges. "Upon the secondary matter regarding Azenda, the former Tyrant queen, and her request to ascertain the whereabouts of her younger brother, Sh-"

 ** _Creak_**

The metal pillar looked broken, crumpled from a massive dent in the smooth metal surface. Yami, Kuro, and Azenda, along with the rest of the room, all looked back at Mea, whose hair had reacted to her emotions as she watched this farce of a trial go on. She had put her own smaller dent into the wall from her fist, so it was only natural that her hair had reacted as well under the influence of her growing irritation. "Why don't you just tell us the truth, huh!" Mea bursts out, her anger clearly showing on her face, "You didn't bring us here with any intention of letting us go through with our issue, this was all just a circus act so you could get Azenda here,and rub the fact you didn't have the balls to do what she did..." Azenda looks down hearted as she gripped the edge of the railing while listening to Mea's outburst, while both Kuro and Yami go to hold her back, but Mea slaps the man's hands away and steps forward next to Azenda. "She left you all behind in this crazy religion based on ancient beliefs and lies, came back to find answers about her family, but all she got was a wall of theocracy," Mea states in anger, "She just wanted to know if he was alive, and all you did was bring her here to shoot that down, because you were mad some big shot in another galaxy threatened you and you just wanted to rub your secrets all up in his face..." At that a loud banging was heard, as a large sphere was hit against the Triumvirates desk.

"Your childish actions aside, nothing will change this council's judgment," the Voice announces, as Mea crosses her arms, "The Ears have listened, the Eyes have judged, and our decision has been spoken aloud to the entire court..." Azenda puts a hand to Mea's arm, as the red head was about to spit out another fiery rant, when the double doors that the Triumvirate had entered from, opened and silenced the whole court our of surprise.

From the massive doorway, a new figure emerged from the shadows of the hallway, dressed in a simple purple robe with no visual features, as their face was obscured by bandages by some horrible accident or otherwise. From the backside a cascading waterfall of hair is spilling up, behind, and down their back, as they walk past the group to stand before the triumvirate. "You, you are not allowed to leave your post..." the Voice begins to say in outrage at the interruption, "You must return to your duties, now-"

"I am sorry I was not quicker," the voice flatly states, interrupting the Voice with a simple raise of their hand, causing them to falter out of surprise, "But the situation was foreseen that you would not allow them to enter, and as such necessitated my arrival to expedite their journey with utmost haste and importance." The Voice visually tightened up at the back talk they were receiving from what looked to be a child or young teen.

"I do not care for your tone, child, but we do not need your counsel in making this decision, our verdict has been very clear..."

"I was not referring to you as one holding the authority in this situation, loud and magnificent Voice," the child replies, bowing their head, "The Eyes and Ears, too, have a say in this as well; but I must also inform you that this request comes, not from I, but from the original Seer." AT that the three judges visually stiffen at that, as the Voice turns to look from the child to the men and women behind them.

"These... blood soaked heathens?" the Voice states in indignation, as they raise a pointed finger to where Azenda stands, "She alone has rejected the faith, become a murder and tyrant unsuitable for these holy grounds; how dare you overstep your bounds, child, and claim the Seer himself decreed that they should enter our most holy site..." Before they could finish, another door opened, and this time a group of security officers appeared and surrounded Azenda, Mea, Yami, and Kuro. "Guards, take this child back to the holy land, and throw these miscreants into holding cells until I can contact the proper authorities to take them away..." the Voice states, as a pair of guards step to each side of the Triumvirate's exposed sides, "They are greedy cutthroats and pirates, willing to steal our holy treasure and coerce our own apprentice Seer into believing their lies..." They raised the spears in their hands and brought them up to cross them over their prisoner.

The Voice was shocked, feeling the two blades of the guards spears against their throat, as the child, the apprentice Seer, speaks again. "Attendant Amira has informed us of your, less than welcoming intentions for the King of Deviluke's own appointed privateers," the apprentice Seer states, "She has also informed us of your backdoor dealings with, not only the Talhain Assassin's Guild, but also colluding with a known terrorist cell to promise them entry into Calpris Minora, in exchange for wealthy beyond measure." As the guards roughly grab the Voice and bring them before the apprentice, the apprentice removes the mirrored helmet from the Voice and looks at them in shame. "One such as you, Dame Cleo, should have never taken your appointment, if you would so willing sell out the chapter in your pettiness and greed," the apprentice states, as they strip the robe from her body, revealing her true form, "Take her away to the holding cells, pending trial for her excommunication."

To Azenda, who had a host of enemies and nobles angered by her actions, she recognized the woman as one whose fiance she had murdered after taking a job from a jealous noble who then used cunning and wit to take the man's land and power, stripping his wife-to-be of any inheritance. She watched as the woman stared in contempt at her, as she was dragged away by the guards. It was then that the Ears and Eyes drew attention back to themselves, with a hit from their gavel.

"It is... apparent, that Dame Cleo has been taking bribes for some time, and our impartial voice has sown all of our past judgments with seeds of doubt, now," the Ears state, as they turn to the group of Azenda and the others, "If this is the Seer's will, then by all means accompany the apprentice to Calpris Minora; this is our judgment." Azenda perked up, as the Eyes turn to face her.

"Of your matter, regarding your brother, we cannot state," the Eyes answer, in the same flat tone, though noticeably one holding more sympathy than Dame Cleo's, "We- we truly, do not know; our appointments to this trinity has each occurred sporadically within the past five years, the others have since perished who would have known more..." Her face falls at that revelation, but it is Yami, whom approaches her with a sympathetic squeeze of the shoulder. Azenda tears up, before wiping her face dry, and joining the others as they follow the apprentice where he may go.

* * *

 _Calpris Minora-β_

Upon their arrival, through a small shuttle craft that took the five down to the planet, the apprentice stood at the exit and turned back to stare them all down. "Fair warning, your only one: once we exit this craft, and before we head into the temple, you will be subjected to a test of fortitude; each of you will face a different trial," the apprentice states, while looking around the room at each of the members, "It will not stop until you overcome it, or fail trying; should you fail it, you will be returned to the station under a strict vow silence of what you saw and experienced, or else you will be imprisoned without trial." Each looked to each other and nodded,and followed the apprentice out of the shuttle and onto the planet.

As they exited the shuttle, they noticed the weather was rough and growing worse, as a chill in the air grew despite the warm, noon time sun, with the ground beginning to steam in protest from the sudden change in temperature. After a few minutes of walking in the densely growing fog, an impressive shadow began to form in front of them, and a massive castle sized temple was seen rising from the ground. Yami followed the apprentice, with Azenda by her side, as the others followed behind them. Once they reached the bottom of the temple's summit, where the entrance to the interior of the castle lay, the apprentice stood at the entrance to look back upon those that followed him.

"Well, I see we've lost two of your friends already," the apprentice states, as he looks back to see only Yami and Azenda standing before him, "It seems the castles defenses were much more... effective than I first thought." Yami and Azenda both look back, to see no trace of Mea or Kuro behind them, which puts the both of them on edge as they turn back to see the apprentice smiling beneath his bandage wrapped face. "Do not worry, I will search them out once you enter," he states, gesturing for them to enter, as he opens the doors for them, "I will ascertain to their safety, and return them to the shuttle, if necessary." Yami goes to turn her hand into a blade, as if to threaten him, only for Azenda to cross an arm over her and step forward.

"I will go with you, then, and ensure they are fine, Golden Darkness," Azenda states with a cold tone directed at the apprentice, "See to this 'Seer', ascertain the safety of the device, and then we will meet up at the shuttle, all together." Yami hesitates, not quite sure as to what she should do, but she nods in response, and returns her hands to her side and enters the building, the doors closing with a loud creak behind her.

Azenda follows the boy for a bit away from the castle, then takes her whip from her side and grips it tightly. The boy-apprentice stops in his tracks, turning around while merely staring at her while she unwinds her weapon from her hip. "Do you really need to do this here and now?" the boy states with a tone of irritation, as he crosses his arms, "Fine then." He lifts up his hands, causing Azenda to tense up, before she realizes that he is merely removing the bandages from his face. As they fall away from around his neck, Azenda widens her eyes in response.

"Shi-," Azenda states in surprise, "Shiki?" Silver hair spilling out, freed from constraint, framing pink hued eyes and an all too familiar smirk that would have mirrored her own.

"Hello, dear sister," Shiki responds, "Should we have a chat?"

* * *

"Onee-chan... Kuro... Azenda?" Mea calls out from within the thick and obscuring fog. She had just been following her sister and their friends, when the fog grew too thick to see, and she had lost track of them when things started to go downhill.

"Yami-Onee?" Mea called out, as she noticed a flash of golden hair in the corner of her eyes, "Big sis?" As Mea turned around to see who was there, she found the last person she expected in front of her, staring at her with what could only be called utter contempt. "Nana?" Mea asks in confusion, as she looks around to see her, but finds nothing but puddles of water and mud in the grassy knolls surrounding them both.

"Don't 'Hi' me, you monster!" Nana snarls back, "Why didn't you come back, when we needed you the most!" Mea took a step back, like a slap to the face. "You weren't there, Mea, you didn't stop her when she lost control," Nana continues, as she aggressively steps forward to get into Mea's face, "Where were you when Adam took my sisters life away?"

* * *

"Azenda, Golden Darkness, Red-Headed Mea?" Kuro asks aloud, as he stumbles through the fog and growing field of weeds, "Can anyone...hear..me?" He trails off as he breaks through the wall of fog, into an open, sunset filled sky and a clearing full of unopened blossoms. 'Daylillies,' he thought to himself, as the name of the flowers crossed his mind, 'Saya's favorite...' Everything about this scene was odd to him the closer he looked, as he noticed that beyond the closed yellow flowers, the land turned into one out of some hellish nightmare, filled with craggy rocks and an endless desert wasteland, and broken stones that looked like massive thorns sprouting from the ground that surrounded the clearing. But it was what was sitting in the middle of this clearing that disturbed him, as the artificial light from the satellite above began to wane and the blossoms began to open in the shadowed sky.

A stone altar, a massive circle of intricately laid bricks, overgrown and disturbed by unknown lengths of time of growth from the yellow flowers. The flowers appeared to have been displacing many of the bricks with their roots, yet left it mostly intact enough for him to stare in wonder at the sight before him within its circumference. Eleven depressions, some filled with shards and lengthy pieces of crystals, some six inches high, while another was practically a broken pillar four feet across and cracked at its base. Yet among them, at the very center of all of them, was a single crystal pillar four feet across, a deep red, the color of blood, yet within the very heart of the crystal was black stain, an impurity that was impossible to see while within the crystal prism. Then Kuro noticed that the shadowy blob shifted. A blurry hand print was pressed against the crystals surface.

* * *

 _With Yami_

Walking within the large temple, which was lit by eerie red crystals that lined the ceiling, lighting up when she drew nearer to them, and alighting her path into the depths of the ruins. As she walked deeper into the ruins, she felt something shift and stir within her. Every cell of her body, the nanomachines that made up her form, were buzzing with an energy, a power that resonated deep within her and made her flush with every step. It was like a fever, raging through her body as she traveled down broken floors and down crumbling stone staircases, only finding sweet relief in the dank and damp cold growing as she descended into the heart of the massive castle.

When she finally reached a pair of massive, wood and steel framed doors, she used every ounce of her control to shift her hair into massive hands she could use to push open the decrepit doors that likely weighed a ton together. As if breaking through the last barrier with her opening of the doors, Yami felt a wave of energy that seemed to crash over her without hesitation, that knocked her to her feet. She wasn't sure if it was an electromagnetic pulse designed to disable her nanites, or what, but the sudden heaviness of her limbs coupled together with the burning sensation, left her winded as she collapsed to the floor in a daze. In a feverish haze, she couldn't tell if someone was approaching her or not from within the castle, or having followed in after her, but the appearance of a well dressed man in front of her was a surprise, as she looked up from the ground to see the man smoking cigarette in a white suite.

"Hey there kid," the man with one orange eye and an eyepatch stated, as he crouched down to look at her, "Let me help you with that." She tried to move, in vain, as the man grabbed her by one arm while huffing a cloud of smoke into her face, to her disgust, while helping her move to a sitting position. "Don't worry, I don't have an untoward intentions," he exclaims, as he adjusts the red tie he was wearing over his blue shirt, and then takes a drag from his cigarette butt and flicking it onto the ground and smashing it with the heel of his shiny, black, dress shoes, "EMP was meant to short out anyone with weapons, don'tknow how it affected you though..." After a few seconds, the numbness passed and she could feel the burning sensation leave her body, as if her system had regulated itself back down to safer levels.

"Who are you?" Yami asked the man, who merely smiled cryptically in response, "I thought I was sent here to meet a seer?" He moves a hand up to his hat, and takes it off, before crossing it over his body and bowing.

"That's me, milady," he says with a chuckle, "I am the enigmatic Seer of Calpris Minora, at your service, princess." He straightens up with a smile. "I guess you could say it was fortunate I met you here," the Seer states as he motions to the room, "Welcome to my humble abode, where the only thing I care about is being kept safe, here, and out of harms way... so now, you can go!" As he moves to sweep her out of the room, all the while a calm smile on his face as he pushes her out to the door, she couldn't help but notice the trio of giant statues that hold up the room, a giant crystal chandelier at the center of the three, each of the three statues stretching out their hands to keep it suspended in the air.

"What is this place?" Yami states, as she slips past him to get a better look at the room, "This isn't anything like what I imagined..." The man sighed while dragging his hand through his hair, after taking off his hat, and letting it fall to the ground as he walked to intercept the young woman.

"I'm afraid that doesn't matter, princess," the man answers, as he goes to put a hand on her shoulder, "Pretty young girls like you shouldn't get involved with an old and musty tomb like this..." Yami ignores his words, as she looks up at the red crystal and the three massive statues that hold it up, and turns back to the man.

"Tell me, what is the Anarchists Beryl?" Yami asks, as she stares up at the crystal, firmly standing in place as the Seer stands there, his smile turning into a frown at her questions, "I heard the original owners of these ruins were tasked with guarding this mystical object by 'god' themselves; yet I have also heard it be called a weapon, one man made, and wholly destructive in power..."

The Seer sighs yet again, at the stubborn girls personality, before covering his face with his hands and dragging them down over his face with a glistening trail left in his wake. "Many have asked that question and left disappointed upon hearing the answer," the Seer relates in defeat, slumping his shoulders, "If you listen to my tale, I shall explain the history of this universe as simple as I can, and who 'god' was to those ancient peoples..."

* * *

 **Once, long ago, twelve ancient beings descended upon a newborn universe in hopes of shaping it into one filled with life, love, and satisfaction. These twelve descended upon a single planet that hosted the perfect conditions for life, and though lacking corporeal form, they could interact with this world just long enough to create suitable bodies for themselves, that could be used to cultivate this planet and make it habitable for them and their resulting creations. Using their knowledge to create a single crystalline object that harmonized with the highly energized, infant universe, they created the first terraforming device, capable of turning an inhospitable planet into one that was habitable.**

 **They used this device, creating simple servants that could harvest and convert the materials of this universe while inhabiting ships created to travel a quickly expanding universe to do so. These were the first Host of the Ancient Ones, a species with infinite potential written into their DNA, and a limitless life span, though in exchange each lacked the intelligence that could constitute a 'soul' of sorts. Simple though they were, the beings were quick to utilize this Host to begin the harvest of materials, and in so doing left Seeds of Life scattered across the universe, waiting to be cultivated and awakened by the Host upon their return to the planet. These Seeds would measure the potential of planets, and create life forms capable of maintaining and balancing these worlds with their powers, and upon their awakening, the Host species would be transformed by their Seed into the perfect life form, capable of surviving whatever was thrown at them upon the world they found themselves. In creating the Seeds and the Host of life, the Ancient Ones believed their rule would be eternal.**

 **Unbeknownst to them, one of their kind had betrayed them all, and managed to collect a few scattered souls from their previous world, whose chances at life were either cut too short, or were taken from them. Upon the creation of the second Host, who would inherit the new universal order, this great betrayer would infect the simple creatures with those fractured and scattered wills, a collection of beings that, given a second chance, would alter the grand destiny planned out for them by the Ancient Ones.**

 **Fortunately the others learned of this betrayal, and while they could not upend the plans of this one without ending the chance for life to flourish, they could transfer the fractured new life to a planet whose future was known to all: a primitive mud ball, third planet from its sun, one whose chaotic orbit would ensure it would be plagued by endless shifting disasters that would wipe out the monsters before they could ever become a threat. And so it was with that the Ancient Ones imprisoned their brethren inside a crystal tomb, forever to remain undisturbed, while they could take the remainder of the second Host to the stars with them, and sleep an eternal slumber of their own making, until they could awaken to a new world.**

 **Before they did so, they encased their misbegotten brethren inside the very crystal structure that had preserved their lives into this new world and created their bodies, and stripped them of their power in the process. This they encased within the crystal above us, hoping one day the Betrayer would repent, or upon the discovery of a worthy inheritor, it could be passed to the one who was worthy.**

 **Or so the story goes.**

 **Fast forward to a time, some mere six thousand years ago, when life across the universe entered its peak, and a galactic Host stretches across the stars. The so-called 'Anarchists Beryl' was discovered on the tenth world of a distant star, paradoxically capable of supporting life despite being the furthest from its sun, while another world held a primitive society already in its grasp. Those who discover this world, the remainder of the First Host who still rove the stars collecting a certain rare metal, materials for their long since slumbering masters, decide to take this item for themselves. For the first time since their creation, something resembling a disagreement arises between the remainder of the fleet, a mere seventeen ships in total, and it requires something of a delegation between all seventeen to end it. The Host realize that if they removed their master's creation from this world, the lives of the twin planet of the Tenth would be not only upset, but potentially ended by a massive gravitational shift that would drown the world. And so one of their numbers decides to remain upon the twin, volunteering to preserve a number of the infant society in their ship until danger had passed, and upon release, join their masters in eternal slumber beneath the surface of this planet for all of the remainder of their immortal days.**

 **And with that passing of the duty to the one, the remaining sixteen decided to save the ones the first could not, and spread themselves amongst the stars where the remainder of their brethren awaited their return. Thirteen of their kind would do this, while the remaining three would take the first ships propulsion systems, and turn the tenth planet into one that could travel the stars. Out of their own greed, the remaining three ships choose a place so remote, it would hopefully be millennia, wherein they could study the secrets of their masters technology and their descendants would go on to inherit their masters legacy.**

 **But this was impossible.**

 **For in each Seed of Life, a tiny bit of something else was genetically implanted within each being born from these seeds: the inability to fully realize the power the Ancient Ones left behind in their slumber.**

 **And so the Talhain people, upon discovering their right to rule was inherently flawed, abandoned the ways of old and forged a life free of their masters touch, within the deadly Talha Galaxy, which had gone untouched due to high concentrations of unstable Dark Matter.**

 **The Triumvirate, and the Seer, in their great shame remained behind to watch over this world, and its secret tomb, as the rest of the galaxy forgot of their existence, including their own people. Until the Great Galactic War raged, and the balance of power shifted across the universe with the coming of those who sought the Beryl's great and unfathomable power...**

* * *

"-And so I have remained the Seer, the guardian of the Crystal Tomb of the great Betrayer, and judge of all those who have sought it out," the Seer ends his tale, "And you, Yami, Golden Darkness, one who has treaded the edge of light and shadow, have been judged by being exposed to your greatest fears, and surpassing them." At that the man steps away from Yami and bows to her, as he removes his eye patch to reveal a discolored, green eye beneath its cloth. "I touched your mind from within the void, and still you did not turn back," the Seer states with a smile, "The Anarchist's Beryl, and its power, shall become yours to do with as you please, if you accept it." He waves his hands outwards with a smile, while centered directly below the crystal being held aloft, and with his movements the sleeping castle begins to stir as Yami watches transfixed by the lowering crystal spiral.

The Seer's face was obscured by shadow, a smile stretched across, with a faint glint of magenta light reflected off his.

* * *

 _With Mea_

"What are you talking about Nana-chi?" Mea cries out, as she covers her ears from the confusing accusations from the older woman's mouth, "What happened, who is Adam, what does this have to do with your sisters?" The other woman slunk up to the living weapon and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her hand away from her ears so she could listen to the words she was about to speak.

"Yami lost control; don't pretend you don't remember when she let that monster out and Darkness consumed all life on the Earth with her power?" Nana spits out in a fury, "None of you returned, not Black Cat, nor you, nor Azenda; just that demon queen with her horde of those terrible monsters that ate through every brick, wood, and metal object in their way, before they moved to feast on flesh and blood and bone." Mea slaps her friends hand away, trying to break the Devilukean's hold on her, as she stared on in horror while reading her friends face and emotions to see what raw grief was scarred across her surface. "We thought Rito and Lala would come back and save us, but Lala came back alone, and too late to stop what had been started," Nana continued to harshly criticize Mea, as the younger red head took the chance to wrap her hair like chains around the younger Devilukean to immobilize her long enough to tap into her psyche and figure out what was going on. With a single strand of hair planted at the base of her neck, Mea gasped as she plunged into the darkness of her friends mind.

Mea was practically naked inside her friends mindscape, openly exposing herself to raw emotions as she felt swept away, swallowed up by the feelings of rage, hatred, disgust, confusion, and distrust while struggling to break through layers of mental defenses to find the core memory that was causing this tiff between her friend and herself. Perhaps reconciling the two, would be enough to snap her out of the haze of red she was immersed in. Finding the right memory was tricky, but the confusion, the hurt, and the betrayal was raw, powerful, and a beacon she could follow like a light in the dark, until she broke through the last defenses, metaphorically shattering it like a glass window.

"You're not Nana-hime!" Mea states in dawning horror, as the image of her friend melts away, to reveal nothing but an empty shadow, "Who are you?" The black mass shifted itself to mirror Mea's shape, before opening poisonous eyes, a maw of purplish darkness twisted into the shape of a gaping smile, that caused Mea to shudder at the emptiness she felt from it.

"I'm your worst nightmare," the shadow finally responded, in a tinny, echoing voice that was a distortion of her own, "All the bad things you've done come back on your head...such delicious guilt you feel, little girl!" As Mea watched, the shadow seemed to reach into its own mouth, slowly pulling out a menacing, and disgusting, purple blade that looked like slimy, oily, and yet sticky-black, like hot tar. "You shouldn't have come here, little girl," the shadow of Mea taunts, "You fell right into his trap." Mea imagined her own hair into a blade, and prepared herself to wield it.

"Shut up and fight." The shadow cackled, and swung at her.

* * *

 _With Azenda_

"What happened to you?" Azenda asks, as she stands a few feet apart from her newly discovered brother, "You've... grown, so much..." With tears in her eyes, at finally finding her lost little brother, she goes forward to hug him. Putting both arms around him, she feels him stiffen up in her grasp. "I thought I lost you forever," Azenda cries softly into his broad shoulders, "When that man took you away, I was afraid I would never get a chance to see you again."

Shiki smiled, slightly so, as he raised his arms to gently hug her back. "It's alright, sister," Shiki states, as he opens his eyes to stare out into the fog that was quickly growing thicker to swallow up the castle, "Everything will be over with shortly..." Azenda opens her eyes as he speaks those cryptic words, and sighs as she pulls away from him.

"You're right, everything will be over soon," she states, sniffling as she tries to wipe the tears from her face, eyes turning puffy and red from her crying, "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you too." With that she grasped her whip and removed it, unwinding it as she took another step back from her brother. "So tell me, Shiki," she states, as her face hardens and grips her whip tighter, "What the hell are you?" Shiki's eyes sparkle as he meets hers, as he blinks, and a second pair of eyelids close over his own.

"Dear 'sister', you should have killed me when you had the chance," Shiki states calmly, as he puts his hands up to his face in a swift, clawing motion, "But now it's too late for all of you; by our master's decree..." His face comes apart as he tears the skin of a boy away, to reveal a monster in his skin. A silver wig falls off, as a segmented tail unwinds itself, a mandible with a maw of sharp teeth behind it is revealed, as the monsters segmented joints and exo-skeleton are revealed to the air, the disguise of her brother totally cast off. "Now it is too late, as shed my flesh-shell for the master," the monster states, "Prepare yourself as I feast on your bone-grrk-"

With a cold and swift jerk, the spiny end of her whip is digging itself into the still-soft shell of the insect, as the freshly poisoned barbs break through into the monster insects blood. "Talking was your mistake," Azenda states, as she grabs another end of her whip and pulls sharply to constrict her opponent, "not mine." In a burst of yellow-green, the insects compound eyes exploded, as its neck and head were severed from its still twitching corpse. Striking the body with her poison tipped whip, she ensured its was dead by then taking its own scythe tipped tail and plunging it into the insects own armor, as the final twitches ceased as she dug her own heel into the tip to ensure its demise.

"I already knew I would be too late, for you and for me," Azenda states, as she turns to the massive castle-temple, and sighs, "but Echidna never told me it would lead to this." As she collapses to the ground, she waits for whatever is to come to happen, resigned to her fate.

* * *

 _With Kuro_

Kuro stood transfixed by the strange crystal formation, among a dozen others broken ones, why was it this one alone that was left. He ignored that question, for now, when he noticed the movement within the crystal, and with it a realization that someone, or some thing, was trapped inside it. So he did the first thing that came to his mind, when he pulled out his Number XII and took aim with his weapon. A shot, then two, then four, and then Kuro realized that normal armaments were having no effect on the crystal exterior.

Stepping up to the crystal, he took his hand and knocked as hard as he could against the surface of the adamant mineral, and felt like he could break his nanite-enhanced hand after just a few punches. "Alright... I don't know id you can hear me in there, or if I'm even making the right choice, but stay as low as you can," he calls into the crystal surface, "I'm going to try something." Pulling his weapon up to focus at what should be a weaker point at the top, he loaded a subsonic charge and took aim at the crystalline facet. Feeling the recoil as he pulled the trigger, the blast wave screamed around him as the channeled force of the compressed sound energy was set to rupture the toughest of diamonds with a glance from such a devastating auditory attack.

When the dust cleared, Kuro noted the sound wave had carved a path towards and around the crystal base, a deep mark that showed its clear hit. Yet the blood red crystal didn't even show a hint of damage, not from his regular bullets, nor one made of compressed sound. It was then that a frustrated Kuro had decided to take yet another look at the crystal, as he allowed his weapon to cool from the force of the previous attack and the spirit energy had charged it with to keep the orichalcum weapon from bursting his own eardrums. Putting a hand to the crystalline facet, to observe it and ensure he wasn't imagining it, he felt the smoothness of the untouched surface, and realized that whatever it was that this foreign substance was made from, it would take more than just something physical or insubstantial...

He had one bullet that could do it...

' _No..._ ' he thought, ' _That is not a bullet to be used lightly, and I only have enough for one shot...'_ He had to think this through again. Bullets bounced off of it... Shaking it apart with shots of compressed sound didn't even crack its surface... He didn't know enough about the intricacies of crystals a geologist would. Puling his hand off of the crystal, he felt something arc between his body and the pillar itself. Blinking, as he realized it was a smallest of jolts of static electricity, he wondered how it had even happened.

' _Wait..._ ' Kuro realized, as he stared at his own hand, wondering if that something he had flowing inside of his blood was enough to conduct a mild charge between the crystal and himself, "Could I utilize that..." Taking a hollow bullet he used to charge with his own energy, he decided to do something drastic he had never before thought of doing.

Taking a breath, he used his techniques to draw, not only the energy from his body, but the stuff flowing through his veins that had granted him a second chance. Taking a few paces back to get a better grip on recoil and safety from debris that could be shot back at him, Kuro concentrates and tries to imagine how this new bullet would react with the orichalcum in his weapon, how his mystic energy would flow and intermix with the nanites, a purely scientific creation. Both were normally things that would be at odds, an unseen, binding energy and a unnatural, manmade creation, could not always interact properly without intermediaries or out of design, such as his weapon; but forging a bullet that required both ideologies to work in tandem...

"I can make it work," he told himself confidently, as he felt the heat of his bullet rising, even as he loaded it into the chamber of his gun, using his weapon as a focal point for both the nanites and the energy to settle into, "So lets beat the odds..." He felt his spiritual energy being channeled into the weapon, as beads of sweat poured from his brow and his palms, he felt the charge of static build up alongside his heartbeat, his brain accelerating as it calculated the odds, his hands growing numb as two energies collided, until he could take no more and pulled the trigger.

 **[Hollow Spirit Bullet]-**

 **[Piezoelectric-Nanite, Load]-**

 **[Railgun]**!

A single shot rang out, an explosion and kickback that drained Kuro, much like when he first fought Yami in her Darkness form, and yet at the same time he felt it was different. With barely a scratch on himself or Hades, he watched the results of his gamble pan out, with the winds of change turning his path towards a new direction for once. As the dust settled, no longer was Kuro a youthful teenager, as he was after Yami had saved him, he was now the younger man restored to an aged yet wiser form he had once had. It had seemed the nanites had been depleted from his form, and returned his body to the way it once was. It was then that he felt his right arm get stabbed a thousand times over with shards of glass and a burning flash of fiery numbness.

" _Aragggh,_ " he gasped, as he grabbed his right shoulder with his left arm, feeling trickles of blood and charred pieces of his jacket beneath his touch, "Damn it..." He honestly expected his hand to go numb, and figured his arm must be shattered from the force of the blast, but he expected the adrenaline rush to last long enough to dull the pain until he got safely back to the Lunatique. But for his arm to be numb from the blast alone, the static charge must have shredded his nerves and the nanites all in one blast, meaning he was likely going to be worse off than he actually felt. "I didn't want it to happen like this," Kuro states, as he gradually collapses to his knees from the pain and the blood loss, "It's suppos- _hnnggh_ -to mean something..."

The dust from his blast was finally settling, he heard more than saw someone walking through the crystals debris. Obviously whatever it was he had damaged, whoever it was he had just saved, had managed to see him collapse within the field of cast off debris. It wasn't much, but he was happy that he had at least done something for someone. Until he saw them lean over to pick up his weapon, which had miraculously kept itself from being blasted to slag like it had before, only to fall into this mans hands. "N-no-" he managed to croak out through his raw throat, which was slowly losing feeling along with everything else, "Ss-top." The person, dressed in black and tan, takes the weapon in their hands and looks it over with disinterest, before opening its chamber and emptying its contents onto the floor.

"Don't worry, Black Cat, everything's going to be alright," the man, as he then takes a piece of crystal from the ground and plays with it in his hand, "We can make sure the Doctor fixes that hand up for you again, just like before..." Taking that same piece of the crystal, he turns it around and uses its sharper end to dig into the weapon, next to the number emblazoned on it. "Looks like its lucky number thirteen, for you..." the figure says with a smile, as he loads the crystal piece into the barrel, "Times sure have changed, eh Heartnett?" He doesn't even flinch as he shoots Kuro point blank in the chest. "This world needed you to be a better hero..." the man says as he walks back towards the shattered crystal to gather more pieces, "Time to end this farce, once and for all."

* * *

 _Yami_

A rumbling is felt, a thrumming in the walls and floors beneath Yami's feet, as the decrepit stone begins to crumble from the force of impact. As the Seer lifts his hands to the crystal chandelier, it begins to roil, as if the crystal was trying to liquefy and change its state of matter. Like a water droplet falling from the crystal, the red seemed to drain from its crystal prison, as it coalesced into a gravity defying ball of mercurial-like liquid that gently floated down to sit between the awaiting Seer's hands. "And with this, Yami-san," the Seer states, as he draws it down and offers it to her, "I offer you the choice to ascend to a higher calling..." He passes it into her reach, as her own hands feel some invisible force settle between her grasp of the object, as if waiting for her to take it.

"With this power, you can undo the damage to this universe; you can fix every mistake you have ever done, and bring a new age of peace," the Seer says in glee, as he watches her contemplate, "Take it and all your cares, your worries, will be over, no more doubt, no more self-loathing, free to love themselves; you can save everyone, my darling Eve." His eyes flash from dichromatic to a bright pink in both, before returning to normal. "No one would have to worry about hate, or war, or differences, you know," he croons, as he steps around her while she remains transfixed by the morphing ball of semi-liquid, red energy, "No more pain, or death, everyone can have the chance to live life to the full; and always smile, because there is no anxiety in Paradise."

Something flashed in her eyes, a single hint of recognition in them as he spoke, but she ignored him, even as his features began to morph from that kindly, older man, to a younger child whose features were unrecognizable. "Take it, my dear," he whispers, golden hair and pink eyes no longer hidden from her view, as he smiles and gets closer to her, "This is your destiny, you were made to be a weapon of war; why not become an instrument of everlasting peace?" The boy smiled, as he offered the girl this gift.

"I- I-" she goes to close her hands around the red sphere of light, as if hypnotized by its gentle glow. It slips out of her grasp, instead blooming like a flower and spreading out, as if it was alive, and began to surround her neck like a halo of red. Morphing and twisting into a heliacal pattern, it began to contract towards her exposed neck as the vibrant maroon of Yami's eyes dull and her arms fall limply to her sides, without a protest.

"Good, good," the blonde boy states, with nary a hint of remorse, "Give in, and it will all be over soon... be stained red by my Master, repent your sins, and return to your rightful place, our darling Eve."

* * *

 _With Mea_

The shadow stilled, faltered as if something had shifted, had stumbled its attack, as Mea parried its sloppy attack. "Too late, too late, too late," the shadow began to mutter to itself, as it put its free hand to its face, and fell to the floor inside the mindscape created by the psycho-dive, "She's too late." Mea quickly took advantage of its distraction to immobilize her opponent psychically, as Mea then drew closer to her shadow to stand before it as its blade fell from the ensnared hand.

"What's going on, who are you?" Mea orders, as she turns her own blade below the creatures neck, and prepares to cut into it, "Why were you pretending to be Nana, why were you try to distract me?" She gasped out while within the psycho-dive, as a familiar wave of all-consuming blackness hit her like a brick wall. "There...I've felt this...before," Mea speaks out, as she begins to sweat, as the taxing effort of holding back this unruly shadow was beginning to put a strain on her power, "My master, she had this same blackness-will; this... same...feeling of loneliness." As she decided to make one final attack on this shapeless, muttering foe, she targeted the feelings with a will of her own that she had cultivated. Mea poured her heart, her memories, the love for her sisters, for her friends, the good times, the bad, and with a single strand of hair turning from a bright crimson to a burning, hot-white, she struck with a purpose only she could relate too.

The single hair went straight for the heart of the shadowy copy, and as it struck, the being finally broke free from its utterances both internal and external to do only one thing.

" ** _AGGGRRRAHIEEEEEE!_** " the shadow screeched, both in the mind and outside it, as the burning white lance, not only pierced the shadows with its light, but burned it away and replaced it with all the memories and love she could muster into that shot. As if piercing the creatures heart wasn't just enough, Mea attempted to wrap it with an all fulfilling love that she could share with her, as the shadows warbled and began to be burned away. The heartbeat filled resonated with that feeling love, and replaced that skin of evil with the exposed flesh of the hidden source of those mismanaged feelings. What was left was someone who could have passed for Mea's double, as she drew her closer and was able to see an astounding familiarity. Break off the psycho-dive, she returned to reality to find herself in much the same position.

Unconsciously she had brought her into her arms, gently as she did so, and released the ironclad grip of her hair from the double.

Gone was the visage of Nana, and the evil and exaggerated double of herself; now, the girl in her arms had shorter hair, a three bead hairpin keeping blonde bangs from falling into her eyes that reminded her of her own braid, and a slim physique that reminded her somewhat of own young body, if a little thinner in other areas. This strange girls eyes fluttered open once, then again, as if she were awaking from a dream. 'Or rather a nightmare,' Mea thought to herself. Setting the girl down onto the dewy grass, using her own lap as a pillow for the others head, she sat there while waiting for her to fully awaken.

"Sousuke?" steely gray eyes meet a dark blue gaze, as the girl mumbles to herself what Mea assumes is a name, as she watches the girls face morph into panic, "No! You aren't Futagami... and you aren't ID!" She pushes herself off of Mea, standing up and away, looking around as she basically scans the entire area around them. "Where am I?" the woman states, as she looks confused and afraid, and then back at an equally confused Mea, before the girls face becomes one filled with sorrow and sadness, "This isn't home...is it?" The girl suddenly started to cry, as if a dam had burst. As if that weren't enough, the tears the girl had begun to cry did not dissipate as they fell from her eyes, but began to fall upwards against the force of gravity and collect around the her.

Mea took a step forward, as if to help her and figure out was going on, but the girls tears burst as she opened her own eyes, as if it was an unconscious act. "Are- are you alright?" Mea tried to ask, but the girl suddenly turned away from where the two of them stood, and stared out into space beyond the thick fog.

"I'm too late..." the girl cryptically stated, as she took an uncertain step forward, then another, before she suddenly collapsed to the ground, "Someone... is falling... into..." The strange girl didn't have much more to say as a dozen shadows erupted from the ground, all forming arms and hands that grabbed the tearful girl by the throat, by her legs, her hands, and Mea could do nothing as she escaped a few that came after her. She transformed her hair into blasters and shot the one that tried to grab her by the heel, then took to the sky to take out another five that came from below her own position. The girl had managed to break free, just long enough to turn to Mea and cry out words she couldn't hear over gunfire, yet the actions and tears were enough to realize it was a plea; though whether it was for herself or another, Mea could not tell. But she was too late, as the shadows pulled the girl into the ground; Mea realized if she was too late to save this stranger, then no doubt it would be far too late to save her friends.

* * *

 _Earth_  
 _Lunar Orbit_  
 _Dark side of the moon_  
 _Two Days Later_

A rippling in space and time, as warp folds open and deposit two ships above the surface of the Earths satellite. Both are relatively ancient warships, long since decommissioned for battles by their original military state, the ships had since been retrofitted to compete with modern-day counterparts at the behest of their new owner, who had then upgraded them with superior warp-fold engines; forgotten technology that not even the King of Deviluke knew how to utilize.

"You're father will be severely disappointed in you, if he knew you stole this technology from the Chelidane, inside the Devil's Playground," Doctor Ryouko Mikado states, as she stands next to the ships new captain, who was standing at the head of the bridge, where a view port looked over the Earth from just beyond the rim of the moon, "Not that I'm complaining on the quick trip back home."

Lala didn't bother to respond to the Doctor's ill-mannered joke, as she laid her right hand on the window, her gauntlet clacking against the transparent fixture as she pressed her palm against it. "It's not the same anymore; without him here, a scolding from my father is worth ignoring, with what we both know now," Lala states without much emotion, "The Galactic Police were infiltrated by Solgam, who instigated the plan to pressure my Father into isolating the earth, the Anarchist Beryl was a fools quest, and the mastermind has been on Earth, all this time, and he wanted myself and Rito out of the way, and sent my fiancee to his death..." She scratches the surface of the glass paneling with her gauntlet, much to the surprise and terror of Mikado, who really hoped to not be depressurized anytime soon. "Solgam's plan is coming to fruition on Earth, and no one knows it's going down on an out of the way, backwards planet like this," Lala states, turning back to Mikado, "The Isolation Capsule is less than three days away, being towed by a corrupt government agency that doesn't even realize they are being played; and the person who could have been key to stopping it was sent to his death inside a black hole."

"So what are you going to do about it, Princess?"

"I'm going to make sure his sacrifice wasn't for nothing."

 ** _A/N: I am kicking myself for somehow forgetting this chapter... Check out my new poll on my page, and let me know if I was just an idiot and forgot to post this, or let me know if I Had posted this, and had just took it down and replaced it at some point._**

 ** _Don't forget to read, favorite, and review!_**


	11. Interlude: Frostbitten Love

**_A/N: SURPRISE! 3 Days not over yet, so here's another chapter!_**

 _'A Blooming Heart Aches'_

Thunder and lightning rips through the sky, a strike of light illuminating the blackness, highlighting the sorrow of the day as the steady snowflakes drop from the sky like frozen tears. A figure in the growing darkness and the flurry of snow is lost, as a boy stumbles to the ground and into the middle of a mess that had begun as another ordinary day, though the spreading crimson pool full of withered petals spoke otherwise. If only he had told her the truth, he had owed her that much, now that he could see it more clearly.

"This- this is all my fault..." the boy says, as he feels the blood pooling among his teeth and gums, coughing as he tries not to choke as his own body fails him. He falls forward into the peaceful snowdrift, just feet from the one he was chasing after. Drops of blood splatter into the snow as he coughs once again, this one harsher than the first, as he spits out withered and once blue petals, stained purple.

"This is my penance..."

"Says who?" another voice asks.

* * *

 _Earlier_

Dreams of marshmallows, the scent of cloves and cinnamon, and the taste of creamy, spiced pear sorbet, were intruded upon by the rays of sunlight streaking in through his window, and the faint whimpers of another. Opening his eyes, already feeling the weight of another pressed against his body, Rito does a double take as he realizes he had begun nibbling on something in his sleep, something all too warm and soft to be a pillow. Spitting it out, and catching a flash of red in his field of vision, he quickly sits up while stripping the covers off to reveal a trembling pinkette, whose cheeks were tinted red and breathing was heavy. "R-Rito," Lala whimpers, looking away scandalously as the orange haired child processes this new information, "Y-you need to s-stop doing that in you sleep..." Lala, removing her slobbered up tail from underneath his weight, pulls free from his bed and blushes slightly as she sits a bit away from him and dries her tail off shyly.

"Sorry Lala, I didn't mean to..." He gets up and starts to rummage through his drawers for clothes he can take to the bathroom and shower up, before Nana or Mikan came up and discovered something was wrong. His thoughts froze at that, his mood dropping as he remembered that wasn't true anymore, and even Lala noticed the shift in his mood. The floor felt a little chilly as he stepped upon the carpeted surface, so he takes a look outside the window, past Lala, to see the foreboding winter clouds gathering outside the windows, frost touch the outside just barely. "It looks like it will be a sudden snow storm; maybe they'll cancel school if we get enough to warrant it," Rito states, as Lala gets up from his bed while walking over to Rito while wearing his comforter, grabbing him from behind to lean on him with her whole weight, "Lala- stop, what are you doing?!"

"It's too cold to think about school, just come back to your bed with me and warm me up," she states, as she wraps him up with the blanket, "My room is too cold to sleep in alone..." He breaks free from her grip, his stuff still in his hand, and turns to face her.

"Stop it Lala, your joke is going too far," Rito firmly says, taking his stuff with him and opening the door, "Your room is so full of technology and gizmos; I know you have to have a heater up there..." Lala stops as he walks out the door, grasping her hand closed and frowning as he continues on.

"But I don't want to sleep alone up there without my sisters."

* * *

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* * *

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* * *

Nana and Momo had moved out of the house at the end of their second year of high school, things weren't sounding too good out in the galaxy, and both princess' were needed by their father and mother, respectively, to continue keeping the peace. The rise of a new version of the terrorist organization. Eden, led by some crazed masked alien dictator named Marduke, had forced Nana to step up and follow in her father's footsteps in leading the troops in a two-fold attack on terror. Momo, on the other hand, had been requested by the girl's mother to learn how to not only learn the art of diplomacy, but use her healing powers over the vegetation to bring back life into the scarred worlds the madman left behind in his wake. Unfortunately, as crown princess meant to inherit the throne, Lala herself was unable to follow either, as even Zastin had left to escort Nana to their father on the frontline, leaving her in Rito's care as Earth was the safest, and furthest from the front line of the war they could be.

Mikan was alone with Celine down below, setting up food for her, while waiting for Lala and Rito to come down from their morning routine. Since Nana and Momo had left, she could no longer risk leaving Celine alone, te curious toddler could get into all kinds of trouble when left alone, so she had reserved herself to letting the two of them figure out their new routine without anyone waking them up. Looking out at the ominous clouds looming on the horizon as she grabbed some plates and utensils down for Lala and Rito, now that she heard the shower running, and placed them upon the table while Celine merrily ate away at the food set before her. Deciding the quite house needed a little noise to it, she turns on the news to check the weather forecast and see what they were predicting.

"-and forecasting is showing a sudden cold snap, as an unexpected channel of wind from the Bering Sea has changed course and directed across the majority of the districts of-" tuning it out as she finished plating some dishes and bringing them to the table.

"Huh, I wonder if that means school is canceled..." Mikan states, as she watches the weather channel give its expectations for today's forecast, "Sorry Celine, it looks like you won't be seeing Mikado-sensei today." The girl happily babbles as she finishes up her food, the disappointment she could have been feeling overshadowed by the yummy and warm food that Mikan had made. Mikan instead smiles wistfully, wishing she could be as cheerful as the child, as she sat down to eat her own breakfast next to the youngest Yuuki household member.

By the time she managed to clean up Celine's mess, after finishing off her own decent breakfast and making a call to Ryouko Mikado to confirm that school was going to be canceled, the beginnings of snow began to fall to the ground and begin to stick. "Amazing, we might just get a decent snow this year, Celine," Mikan states, turning to the child, who beams up at the younger Yuuki sibling in return.

"Mau!" she agrees, as she hears the trudging footfalls of Rito coming down the stairs, followed by Lala, who remained in her pajamas despite Rito having changed, "Mau, mau!" Celine quickly rushes over to Lala to show her the snow coming down, while Mikan watches her brother serve up some food for himself and get a bottle of seasoning out of the cupboard for the Devilukean princess.

Hearing a knock at the door, Mikan can't help but wonder who it is in this weather, coming to their house so early, that she opens the door expecting one of their friends to randomly have shown up. Surprisingly, no one was waiting at the door, at least not one of their friends, thought it appeared to be a short man with a mushroom cap for a head and a mailman's uniform. "Galactic mail delivery service, we get you what you want, wherever it is and wherever you want it!" the short man, with equally sized arms and comically oversized shoes states, holding up a brown paper package, tied with string and a couple of air holes put inside its packaging, for Mikan to take, "Delivery for one Lala Satalin Devi-luck?"

Mikan doesn't exactly know what to do, looking back at where Rito and Lala were sitting, before turning back to the small alien(?) and addressing him. "I can take that for them," Mikan states, as she reaches forward to grab it, the man(?) letting her take it from him.

"No problem, miss, enjoy and please use our service again!" he cheerily states, before turning around and walking with his feet a blur as he leaves for hat looks like an ordinary mail delivery truck, before it shoots upwards into the sky, as she watches in awe.

Taking the package inside, where it was much warmer than the freezing cold temperatures outside, she notices the package itself was fairly freezing as she set it down on the family room table, taking a note she noticed tucked inside the brown wrapping paper.

* * *

 _"Dear Lala,_

 _Hello from your dearest, youngest sister,_  
 _here's hoping this letter reaches you._

 _As you can see, I've sent you a care-package_  
 _With mother's approval, of course, from the planet_  
 _Duran. It's a special kind of flower I was hoping_  
 _You and Rito could plant for me in my virtual garden._  
 _I can't really tend it much, on my free time, but I tho-_  
 _-ught the two of you might like this very rare variety._

 _It's the most beautiful plant, but requires you to keep_  
 _it cold until you are ready for it to bloom, otherwise_  
 _the scents die off too fast. The natives call it a stra-_  
 _-nge name, but I figured you would recognize it when_  
 _you see it._

 _Hope all is well back home_  
 _Your loving sister,_

 _Momo Belia Deviluke"_

* * *

Wondering what it could possibly be, Mikan wants to open the package to see it, but the sudden tugging of Celine at her leg causes her to focus on the littlest member of their family. "Mau!" she states, pointing to the clock, and Mikan smiles realizing that Celine wanted to watch one of the kids shows about a futuristic magical girl who saves the Earth against an evil organization utilizing an alien technology that turns people into the monster of the week. Ai Cure Z, or something like that.

"Lala, Rito, you both got a package and a note from Momo,"she states, before turning the television on for Celine, "Come get it and see what it is in the kitchen, otherwise Celine will get upset I'm interrupting her show!"

Rito comes over and grabs the box and the note from the table, before bringing it over to the kitchen table a few feet away and resumes eating, just as Lala took the note and scanned over it.

"I wonder what is inside it?" Lala states, as she begins to remove the string from the wrapping and tearing into the brown packaging. A simple cardboard container with a little bit of tape was inside, and Lala carefully removed the tape and began to open up the box to see inside it. What she found were four or five closed buds, connected to a single plant, as Rito paused in his eating to lean over and see what the contents of the box were. Just as suddenly as she opened the box and realized what its contents were,she quickly tried to close the lid, but was too late. The sudden exposure to light and shift in temperature from both warm bodies leaning just a bit too close, and the five seed pods burst and squirted out a pink mist not unlike Celines, except vastly different. Unable to catch her breath in time, the pink haired princess inhaled the thick mist, alongside Rito, who was beginning to cough, as the coating of pollen settled in his mouth with a bitter taste.

" _*cough*_ Lala- _*cough*_ -what was that?" Rito asks, waving the quickly dispersing remains of the plant and settling a look at the now spent plant that assaulted them both, "What did Momo send us?" Lala tries halt her own violent coughing fit, as she tries to compose herself enough to answer Rito's question.

"That- _*cough*_ -plant was Lovers Cross, and it's not something Momo- _*cough*_ -would have sent either of us," Lala finishes clearing her throat, before putting a hand up to stop Celine or Mikan from crossing the threshold over to the kitchen, "Stop, don't come any closer, the spores may not have full dispersed yet.." Lala wraps the plant back up in its packaging, before sealing it in an old dish towel and putting it in a new garbage bag and not only sealing it, but knotting the actual trash bag to seal it as well. "We can't take any chances with Lovers Cross, as it's a highly invasive, symbiotic plant that replicates through a mold it sprays out of its seed pods; anyone caught inhaling it into their lungs becomes a carrier." She takes the bag and tosses it out into the backyard in the growing snow.

"Carrier?" Mikan states, as she worriedly looks at both of the two newly infected individuals, holding Celine back as she does so, "Carrier for what?" Lala coughs, a painful look crosses her face as she does so, before turning to Mikan with a straight face and grabbing Rito's hand as she gathers her courage.

"This plant is one whose home planet is frozen nine months out of a standard earth year; it's explosive seed pods are usually how Lovers Cross spreads naturally in its own environment, once the planet thaws enough because of its maturation period being so fast," Lala says quietly, as she squeezes Rito's hand as he begins to go through another coughing fit as well, "Remember that I said it spreads its seeds through a mold?" Mikan nods, as Rito stops his fit. "The mold is the actual, flowering Lovers Cross, and it is the most dangerous part of the plant," she continues, "Inhaling the mold made us carriers of its parasitic spores; as it begins to infect us, it will treat us like those seed pods and propagate... it will literally begin to bloom inside of us." Mikan covers her mouth, shocked at that, as Rito covers his mouth as another hacking fit overcomes him.

Lala covers her own mouth, as she tries to stop a cough from coming out, only for her to feel a wet and warm splat come from out of her mouth. Pulling her hand away, she realizes that blood and a fleck of something else was there. "Lala, what is it?" Rito asks, as he pulls his own hand away from his mouth to take Lala's. He pulls the object away from the blood by a non-bloody corner, and he realizes it looks something like a flower petal.

"No- no, it's already starting," Lala states, as Mikan hands her a tissue to wipe away the blood from her hand, "I need to get upstairs to try and get in contact with my Mothers ship right away, maybe Momo can tell us how to fix this before it gets any worse..." Another coughing fit hits both of them, and this time Rito feels the blood between his fingers as he pulls his hand away. Wiping it off on a tissue he grabs for himself, there appears to be a piece of a petal broken off onto it, so he looks up at Lala and she meets his eyes with a look of worry.

"Ok, let's go," Rito states with urgency, as he begins to follow Lala up to her room, "Let's deal with this, and fast!" Mikan can't help but watch with dread as she clutches onto Celine and hugs her tightly.

* * *

"You say it came through Galactic Mail Delivery?" Momo states over the video call, after answering on their other's ship halfway between Earth and Andromeda, "Whoever sent it must have known the Terra expanse is a designated neutral zone; Galactic Mail Delivery is legally allowed to continue its business in earths vicinity as long as it scans for illegal substances and smuggled goods..." Momo rubs her chin on the screen, and sighs as she puts a hand to her head in aggravation. "Damn it, Lovers Cross isn't considered an illegal good; it's practically a common houseplant when in a secured bio-dome," Momo states, as her eyes glance over to Rito, "How are the symptoms, both of you, so far?"

Lala puts her right hand over her left wrist, wringing it slightly, as Rito puts a hand on her shoulder from the side. "Not- not pleasant, Momo, we ar- _*cough*_ " eyes going wide as her respiratory systems autonomic response kicks in, she covers her mouth and hacks for a solid minute, falling to her knees as the violent spasms hit her hard. Rito grabs her by the shoulder to steady her, as she pulls her hand away to reveal scarlet colored petals sitting in a sticky pool in her palm.

"Not good if you're spitting up flower petals already," Momo says with worry lacing her voice, eyes creasing in fear as she watches her sister clean the blood from her hands, "This isn't something simple we can just fix you up with, there's only two known successful cases of it being cured, and the methods and results of both weren't very... evident." Lala and Rito look at each other, before looking up at the screen and nodding for her to continue. "A-alright, alright, -sigh- if you both insist knowing," the younger Devilukean princess turns on her feet away from the twos view, taking a deep breath and returning to the screen, "First, the most successful attempt was an incident where a foolish man accidentally poisoned himself after stumbling into a patch of Lovers Lace; he was removed to an isolated hospital ward and the spores were surgically removed from him." She hesitates to continue, as Rito begins a coughing fit, but swallows her anxiousness to continue her story. "He survived the surgery that removed the fungal strain, but, he was never the same person after the incident; the mold had spread beyond his lungs and infiltrated the patients nervous system through the stomach lining, compromising his mental process through means unknown," Momo puts her thumb to her mouth and bites on her thumbnail, as her tail twists behind her as if in agony, "The second surviving example is little more than a story that the plant gets its name from, about two lovers who experienced the dangers firsthand, and yet managed to survive an ill fated death, after fleeing their hometown when their people were on the verge of burning them to death to avoid the plague spreading."

"So not good odds," Rito asks, as Momo nods in return. He turns to Lala and holds her a bit closer to him, once he notices she is on the verge of tears, and in pain from the coughing fits. Instead of falling to pieces, Momo steps aside and a new person is seen and heard on the video screen.

"The story goes that both of them ventured out into the snowy wilderness to etch a life out for them, and one of them found a cure for the disease after sacrificing his arm to a witch for his lover," Sephie interjects, a sorrowful look on the mother's face, albeit it was obscured by her commonly worn veil, "I believe it means that there is a cure, somewhere out there, but your best bet is to find the person who completed the surgery and get them to see if a better way has been found to remove it, before either of you are lost to us!" Lala brightens up a bit at her mother's comforting appearance, the anguish in her voice ringing clear and causing her child to cry a bit at her own show of affection.

"Mother, it's good to see you!" Lala states, as Rito merely avoids his gaze of the mature woman, in favor of hacking up more petals, "I'm sorry thi- _*cough*_ -isn't the best of circumstances, but-"

"Say no more, my dear; I can't believe the galaxy has gotten so scummy as to resort to biological terrorism, but I've since informed your father of the details," Sephie states, trying to sound comforting, "He's dispatched a medical ship to Earth's moon so you can get the best care, but your best option for getting results is actually already available for you on Earth." Lala is curious at that odd notion, but Rito sputters out his response between coughing up blood and spitting out larger petals from between his bloodied gums.

" _*-ugh*_ -'s Mikado, Ryouko Mikado, isn't it?" he says, wheezing between harsh gulps of air, wiping the blood onto the back of his arm and no longer caring about it, "Our teacher, she's practically a genius in experimental medical procedures, she's cheap, and she's a runaway for various reasons..." Lala looks at Rito in concern, but Sephie merely laughs a flat and fake tone at his deduction.

"Yes," she responds plainly, a sorrowful smile gracing her usual mature and cool disposition, "Eden's runaway scientist, the elusive 'Medical Saint', is the doctor who performed an illegal and dangerous surgery on your father, King Gid of Deviluke." The shock that crossed not only Lala's face, but Momo's captured in the corner of the screen, was matched only by Rito's stunned expression of hearing the cold hearted bastard King had once fell victim to this same plant. "He was trying to be nice, it was our third date, in an unexplored region of space which the galactic war hadn't touched yet," Sephie goes on to explain, "I had been wanting to explore, so your father taken me on a tour of the many planets he had visited in his youth, to train his body; I hadn't heeded his warning about the danger of the place, and he took a fall meant for me into a patch of Lovers Cross." She smiled, a cold, heartless smile at the distant memory, but the tears welling up in her eyes shone through the darkness. "He's never been the same, since then, of course, never quite as attentive as he once was, but he tries to love me like he once did," she openly admits to her daughters, likely for the first and last time, and Rito nearly felt like he was having a brush with death at this secret between family members, "I don't want you to die, or to lose that love between you two, so please, Rito, I beg of you to save my daughter and yourself before it is too late for either of you."

With that declaration hanging in the air around them, Rito nodded and took Lala by the wrist, before pulling her away from the screen and towards her room. "Come on, we need to get dressed," he states, as he pulls her away, "It's snowing, and we'll have a bit to walk to Mikado Sensei's." Lala pulls her hand out of his grasp and stops, surprised by his change of tune to this morning.

"Rito, why are you panicking, we still have time," Lala states, confused as she stares at him, "The nearest bus isn't scheduled to come by for.."

"We don't have time to take a bus, or the circumstances either," he interjects, raising his voice at her misunderstanding of his urgency, his eyes burning as he meets her gaze, "If we take the bus, the chances of us getting stuck in the snow increases, as does the risk factor of getting seen coughing up blood and flower petals; anyone who sees us doing these things on a bus will likely think we have a highly contagious disease, and we'll be forced to go to an Earth hospital with no likely means of getting any form of proper care." She stares at him, surprised by his forward thinking attitude, content with his answers, she goes into her room to change into the proper clothing.

"I'll meet you downstairs," she says as Rito uses the transporter down to the second floor of the Yuuki house. Stepping into her room, a few wobbly paces, and she falls to her hands and knees.

*co-co-*  
*cough*  
 _ ***COUGH***_  
 _*Cou-*_

"Blergh-"

 _*splat*_

A pool of red and bile, which had choked her until she could get it out of her airway with much force. Eyes tearing up and blurry at the force, which nearly caused her to pass out into the vile remnants of her fairly light breakfast, and tears were coming down her face as she tried to compose herself a little bit. By her own calculations, they had little more than a few, precious hours left without immediate consequences, if she went by the fact that the item floating in her blood was a drenched forget-me-not.

That was something she hadn't told either of them, when she had confirmed they were indeed infected by Lovers Cross.

* * *

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* * *

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* * *

 ** _Some Time Ago_**

"No,"their King Gid stated, as his youngest daughter approached the throne to gain her father's favor for another one of her whims, "Caritate is a protected system for a reason, and THAT planet especially is forbidden for you and your sisters to visit, no exceptions." At that she looked crestfallen, before that stubborn streak that she could chalk up to her father over took her.

"But WHY father?" Momo asked, as Lala and Nana stood stock still at their sisters outburst, while their Father remained calm and stoic as always while seated next to their Mother, Queen Sephie, "Mother told me you took her to Onsra when you were dating, that the planet was extremely beautiful when it was close to its sun and entered its defrost period..." Their father stood up at their daughters heated retort, and was about to speak his mind, when his loving wife's hand strayed his attention to herself.

"Momo, darling, I you think we don't understand your frustrations; why we ask you to obey these stipulations we set out for you, one day we know you'll understand all these rules are for your protection," Sephie Michela Deviluke interjects, giving her husband the chance to regain her composure, and allow her daughters childish tirade to end, "We were young and newly in love teenagers then, we didn't even know the dangers of Onsra until we were the ones who got in over our heads; the system, the planet, wasn't even charted back then." She smiles gently and has her draw closer, putting a hand to her daughters cheek as she draws the attention to herself. "Your father and I were the ones who chose to make Caritate a protected system," she explains, as she lets her hand fall from her daughters face, to cross them neatly over her own lap, "Not only for the inhabitants of the planet's own safety, but those unlucky travelers who would one day stumble upon a world they were unprepared for... it was as simple a solution as we could make then."

Momo pouts at this, understanding what her mother is saying, and doesn't push it anymore, before rejoining her sisters standing behind her. "Now that that is settled, your mother and I have more work to prepare for," Gid states from his throne, turning to Zastin as he speaks, "Take the children to their lessons, Zastin, and please, make sure Lala doesn't disassemble another cruiser if you lose track of her..."

* * *

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* * *

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* * *

The matter had ended with that little revelation, and now the reason behind it had become much clearer since their mother had revealed the truth. She had tried not to worry Rito by lying about how much time they had to get this problem fixed, but of course leave it to Rito to realize the problems she hadn't thought of, when it came to human culture. Despite having remained among them for three years, her grasp of human culture, of the thoughts of her own husband-to-be, still eluded her intellect and understanding. She could smile, though, realizing that of course he would think of them, of his own people, when it came to this unknown and alien disease, who wouldn't think of protecting their own in such a situation;it just showed her, though, that Rito was showing those simple qualities of forethought she had seen in him, that could make him a great ruler, one day.

Ignoring the blood for now, and thinking about Mikan and Celine as she got ready, she decided to enact something of a spur of the moment decision once she got back into the Yuuki house and met Rito and the other two at the base of the stairs.

"Mikan, Celine, I want you two to leave the house, and not touch anything in the family room or the kitchen," Lala orders, much to Rito's surprise, and Mikan's, "I fear the spores may not have dissipated yet, or they could still get on you and be transmissible through direct contact with your clothes and other things; you weren't in direct contact, and we stopped you from getting close, but I think it would be best if you got changed and met up with us at Mikado's." Lala smiles a bit sorrowfully, as she takes a look at the interior of the house and turns to Rito with a sheepish smile. "I'm afraid I'll have to get in contact with Smutts and Maul,too, and see if we can get a clean-up crew to isolate and contain any of the spores if they contaminated the stuff in your house," she informs the two siblings, "I'm afraid we'll have to quarantine the house, and that means you'll have to inform your father, and may have to stay with him until we can ensure everything is cleaned up properly; I'll have to check with Momo just in case, but the spores shouldn't stay viable for very long." Mikan nods, as does a serious looking Celine, which is a bit silly for the child to be as if she understood them, but Mikan kept a wide berth of Rito and Lala, and took care not to get too close to them already, just in case.

"Well then, let's get going," Rito states, dressed up in his winter coat, as he goes to open the door to outside the house, "The snow's only getting worse out there while we wait..." As he opens the door, the streets outside are paved with snow in total white-out, as the heavy snow keeps falling from dark and ominous clouds. Stepping out into the fresh snow, Rito takes the lead in starting down the road towards Mikado's house.

* * *

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* * *

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* * *

 _Back in Lala's Room_

A sleeping Peke, who had still been recharging after a long night of Lala's sudden bursts of inspiration before bed keeping her awake, the little robot's audio receptors were ringing as she tuned into the waking world. Blinking slowly, and wondering where Lala was, she realized that her mistress' D-Dial was ringing, so she went to answer it. What she saw on the screen surprised her, as she realized the holographic form of Nana was in front of her optics.

"Peke?" Nana says, surprised the little robot had answered her sisters device, "Where's Lala, I heard something had happened!" Peke's eyes widened at this news, and she turned to go out of the room. "Wait!" Nana called out, before the little robot could fly away, "I have urgent news regarding a New Eden sighting near Earth, you need to warn Lala!" Peke turned back to the D-Dial''s projector and waited for her younger charge to continue. "I need you to inform Lala that an old Solgam base was raided in the Outer Fringes, and an ancient weather altering device was stolen by the new head of the organization," Nana continues, "He's been using it to leverage unaligned planets all over your sector of space, and we think he's set Earth in his sights; even though it's practically a S-class planet hosting an F-class civilization, the number of illegal alien refugees may make it enticing enough to try and force into his organization." Peke's swirling eyes turned into X's as she realized that the danger of Earth getting targeted, with Lala hiding out on the planet as well, had incredibly serious ramifications.

"If they find out a Princess of Deviluke is on this planet, they may try and capture her and use her position as heir of the throne against your Father!" Peke states, realizing with extreme anxiety that she had to find Lala and fast, "Lala-sama!" With a whirl of her wings, the little robot burst out the door to find her mistress in a blind rush.

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"We're not going make it, are we?" Rito asks, after they were both on their way, deep into the snowstorm and far from the ears and eyes of Mikan or Celine, "We aren't fine, and it's only going to get worse, isn't it?" Lala doesn't know how to answer him, as they both walk further, one foot in front of the other through the white landscape, following the signs and streets as best they could while they were still visible to the naked eye.

"No, I'm sorry," she ends up saying, her voice lowering, until she stops and begins to cough up more blood and petals, and even Rito stops to go back and help her back to her feet, "I'm- I'm fine, now, we need to keep going before this storm gets-"

 _*CRASH*_  
 **Kr** ** _r_** **rkah**  
 ***BOOOM***

Both stopped in their tracks, as the white sky lit up like an explosion happened among the darkened clouds. Rito turned to Lala, or shook her head and had no answer for why a thunderstorm would be happening within a snowstorm such as this. They resumed walking for a bit more,though the wind began to pick up, as the heavy snow began to fall even more with the temperature, and Rito had no choice but to break the growing silence between the two.

"Japan isn't the kind of area that would get this kind of weather; I've heard of occurrences of thunder snow in the west, but our weather and location just isn't conductive to it," Rito states, as he stares up as more bolts of lightening flash across the sky, illuminating the black thunderheads against the growing whiteout, "This weather- it isn't natural, not at all; Lala, what do you think-" He turns back to look for her, but she is gone from his sight, and he freezes in place in hopes of calling out for her. "LALA!" Rito calls out, standing still as he raised his voice over the howling wind, "LALA, WHERE ARE YOU?" He realizes quickly as the heavy snow whips by him, that the tracks he was leaving behind had been swiftly covered over as they walked, and he couldn't even see the faintest impression of his steps. 'Of course it gets worse,' he thinks to himself, as he feels the unnatural coldness begin to freeze his sweat and tears, as the wind whips around him, 'I must have lost her when it began to get worse, she must have lost track of my footsteps-' Thoughts broken by a sudden influx of pain in his chest, he doubles over into the growing snow and begins to choke on his own body's reaction to the foreign objects growing in his lungs. A splattering of blood later and a large flower, similar to a white rose stained pink by his bodily fluids, and he watched as the intense cold not only froze the disgusting object, but seemed to make it whither and die upon direct contact with the cold.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but the cold weather jacket he had thought would keep him warm was quickly losing its effectiveness the longer he stood still, as the illusionary warmth he had been feeling with his active movements began to bite and tear into his bones, becoming a chill spreading fast and deep into his body. Deciding he couldn't stay still and hope Lala would find him, he knew he would have to turn back and hope he would not end up walking in circles as the visibility decreased with every passing minute. He could only hope he would stumble upon Lala in his blind search, and bring them somewhere the cold could be fought off, otherwise hypothermia and the growing urge to sleep nestled somewhere back in the irrational part of his mind, would become something much more deadly.

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The unnatural snow and ice, the wind that tore through his jacket like it was tissue paper, was something old and primal, it screamed like the ancient winters must have when they were unleashed upon earth's distant past. The whispers in his mind, as hallucinatory as they were, rationally came upon the same conclusion: this would be the beginning of a new ice age if nothing were done. He had to find Lala, he had to fix this, and with her help, he could maybe even get the courage up to be brave for once in his life. Maybe he could tell Lala the truth, about that last summer, during the pool party and the misunderstanding following it, that he felt something. But he would have to find her first, and as achingly slow pace through the snow was, he had plenty of time in his growing haze of fog, to get memories and emotions jumbled and mixed up. The cold had begun to seep into his thoughts, making it harder to think as he coughed and choked on his own blood, every other step painful as the action tried to clear his muddled brain.

It seemed like the snow was letting up, finally, as he stumbled upon tracks that couldn't have been covered fast enough for him to ignore the slightest indentation as a sign. Beginning to follow them, the snow level began to drop with ever passing minute, until the whiteout became grey, grey to black, and then frozen winds dropped to a mere whisper. As if walking through a wall of wind, the break in the clouds was like the eye of a hurricane, and Rito realized that the snow was thinnest hear, as if by design, as the sun began to soothe his muddled brain and warm frozen skin. Finally, he could see a limp form covered with snow, and he realized that a light dusting of snow was still falling around him, though nothing like what he had been seeing, the pink hair poking through the light dusting was enough to snap him back to full panic. "Lala!" he called out, as he slowly began to pick up his pace and walk closer to her, until he broke out into a full run to draw closer.

 ***BOOM***  
 **KRR** ** _rr_** **KKKK**  
 _*FLASH*_

A burst of cold and sudden wind, and the blue skies became a dreary black, as if the weather was against his approaching the fallen princess. "No!" he cried, as he fought off the wind and walked ever steady, ever sure of his destination, towards her with determination. He felt his body wanting to retch out more blood, but held the bile down, as he fought with every ounce of strength being sapped from his body with constant snowfall blowing his way.

Thunder roars out and lightning rips through the sky, a strike of light illuminating the blackness, as the steady snowflakes drop from the sky like frozen fists against his steadily weakening body. Her figure in the growing haze of ice clinging to his face, as snow blinds the boy as he stumbles to the ground and into a spreading crimson pool of his own making, heaving with what little strength he has left in his body. Withered petals clung to his face and hands as he tries to reach out for her, seeing she is so close to him.

If only he had told her the truth, that he had still loved her, even if she had misunderstood and rejected his attempts to repair their relationship. But he could see was her body in the pile of snow, body heat drawing out of her with ever dire second she remained face down in it.

"This- this is all my fault..." the boy says, as he feels the blood pooling among his teeth and gums, coughing as he tries not to choke as his own body fails him. He falls forward into the peaceful snowdrift, just feet from the one he was chasing after. Drops of blood splatter into the snow as he coughs once again, this one harsher than the first, as he spits out withered and once blue petals, stained purple.

"This is my penance..." he grits out, as he finally reaches her, and pulls her out of the snowdrift, "I don't get another chance to make you hear me out..."

"Says who?" another voice interjects, and as he wearily tries to look up at the man who approaches them, he quickly begins to feel a wave of nausea and tiredness overcoming him, as he realizes the man has the oddest looking helmet, with a roman numeral carved into it.

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Not expecting to find anyone at the center of the winterish anomaly, the man smiled down at the two sprawled out teens before him. He hadn't expected the one to walk right into his lap,but both of them? The chance was just too good not to count as a lucky break for him. When he had came to this universe, it was to search for these two kids, and now they were both in reach. Knowing he would have to hurry and get them medical attention, he put his hand to his ear and looked upwards through the break in the storm, and opened a channel to his ship in orbit of the planet's moon. "It's alright, I found the kids, their both intact, but require immediate medical attention," the man, with the roman numerical numbers IV etched into his helmet, states as he holds up his other hand to get their attention, "Tell the others to withdraw from the planet, the main objective has been obtained; we can let our little toy go wild now." The man is smiling as he holds up a remote and presses a button, revealing a blue, glowing sphere in the sky as a cloaking mechanism is disengaged. "This is the true power of the Taoist Pearl, whose user wasted his freezing ability on petty murders, eh?" the man stated, unimpressed, chuckling as he calls for a pickup, "Kranz Marduke, three for retrieval at my location; the weapon has been armed-"

Before he could even finish his words, the sphere suddenly and swiftly burst. The tinkling of glass could be heard as it broke apart, flakes of ice and snow in its wake, as it shattered like a snow globe would if it hit the ground in mid-air. On alert, Kranz turned his attention to the air, as if waiting for something to kick up a cloud of snow as it landed, yet nothing came.

"Sorry to disappoint you," a voice whispered from behind him, as he felt a stabbing pain in his chest, "You are the fifth one on my list, and I'm not playing around anymore." Looking down, Kranz realizes he has a sword twisted through his body, a broken one at that, but more important than the pain was that he realizes that the shattered remnants of the Taoist Pearl seemed to have been stuck, frozen in place upon the sword, even as his unknown assailant pulled it free of his body. The madman had to have known the Pearl had been at temperatures of absolute freezing, that would have shattered even the toughest of metals, yet he had still taken the risk and cut through the pearl like it was an ice sculpture. Fortunately for Kranz, the pain was immediately numbed by the super cooled instrument, the frostbite setting in almost as he watched the bruised looking skin turn impossible colors around the stab wound. Turning around to face his attacker, Kranz spun woozily to face a man as brave and foolish as he was to attack him like this.

"Greetings and farewell, former Chronos Number Four," a man with an eerily similar helmet to his own, carved with its own version of the letters IV over the right eye instead of the left, the man was practically a mirror image of the killer he once was. He had orange-blonde hair, though, instead of Kranz's dark hair, he was shorter too, as was the fact he seemed to be dressed in vaguely familiar armor, overlaying a flowing, white robe.

Kranz smiled, genuinely, for the first time in a long time, at finding someone he could respect in spite of the cowardly sneak attack. As he fell backwards into the snow, vocal cords already too frozen to give his attacker the words of respect he deserved to hear, he already understood the fact that he was mistaken about the man's way of dealing with him. He was a fighter it seemed, he had faced his brethren and lived, so the understanding that one not judge their opponent outwardly seemed to be his way of dealing with his opponents. If he were not already a dead man, he would have been proud to call this man a worthy foe, though both of their lives had already been cut too short.

"You did well Kranz, when I tracked you to your base on that frozen planet in the Caritate, I almost overlooked the fact you sent Rito and Lala Lovers Cross as a symbolic end to their relationship," the man tells the cooling corpse, as the frostbite freezes his ever cell finally and totally ending his enemies life, "You left the sword behind, in a patch of Lovers Cross to keep anyone from foolishly trying to use it, because you knew it was the only thing that could destroy your 'ultimate wea-*C-c-coughh*" he wheezes out, as a stray drop of blood escapes from beneath the mask, "-weapon; but you never thought I would willing retrieve the sword, especially if it meant keeping you from killing dozens more of innocent worlds using its power."

He lets the sword fall from his grasp, his hands to numb from the cold to hold with his right hand anymore, so instead he grasps its handle with his left and quickly tries to drag it over to where Rito lay face down in the snow, the blood and withered flowers draining from his mouth slowed down as his core body temperature dropped with every second. "You never even thought of using it for good," the man says, as he uses his numb right hand to move Rito's left hand to where he can force him to grasp the broken sword with his own hand, "Now, I need you to listen to me, Rito Yuuki, so wake up... wake up... C'mon!"

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With the slightest fluttering of his eyes in response, fighting off the sleep in his mind, Rito Yuuki barely could comprehend anything but shadows and a annoyingly bright light. "-ight it, Yuuk-" the muffled voice seemed to say, as he felt something cold and biting like metal being pushed into his hand, "-ke up, come on, don't slee-" Eyes flickering, as the biting cold in his limbs seem to be relieved, drawn into that cold and biting thing in his hands, he tries to focus on the strange, muffled words. "word, use the sword, draw the cold out," it said, and he tried so very hard to do that, "Good- good, Rito, you're doing it!" The voice was so hopeful, so strong, and he quickly felt the warmth in his body returning, and the pain that had been wracking his body seemed to be numbed, gone even. Feeling something try and drag him upwards, out of the snow so he could be assaulted by the blinding light, he felt the soreness and stiffness of his limbs leave his body, until he could clearly see the form of his beloved Lala nearby.

Not even hesitating, and feeling the coldness in her body even from his position being propped up by another, it was as if he could see the life, the warmth of her core being crowded out and smothered by the cold. He raised the sword as feebly as he could, and without even having to touch her with the sword, withdrew the cold from her body until he was feeling the warmth of her inner fire like it was once again a roaring blaze. Happy, and finding the burst of strength quickly fading fast, he dropped the sword to the ground and felt himself succumbing to the blackness of sweet unconsciousness. Before he passed out, he saw the corpse of another as he felt their fire be extinguished, and got a glimpse of the passionate flame that had stoked him back to the waking world, helmet though obscuring his face, he knew exactly who it was behind the mask, as if the face behind it was his own. "Take it," he whispered weakly in his final moments of wakefulness, "Ease your burden, repentant one..."

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"-ito, Rito, Rito!" a voice called to him, as he slumbered peacefully in the warmth, "Rito, please wake up, Rito!" Feeling a warm hand clasped around his own, he opened his eyes to see the crying face of Lala standing by his bedside, holding his hand while he slept the feverous dream off.

"L-Lala?" he croaked out, his throat extremely parched, burning as if it had been cut a thousand times over, "What- where am I?" Looking around the room, he saw Celine leaning into a dozing Mikan, who looked dressed in pajamas and covered with a thick, wooly blanket.

"I see our miracle child has woken up!" a saucy Mikado stated with a smile and a clipboard in hand, as she walked into the room, "Not only did you manage to get lost in a freak snowstorm, you managed to avoid hypothermia completely, melt the snow around you both like you were literally hotter than the weather itself outside, and also manage to somehow burn the Lovers Cross out of your system..." She puts the papers from the clipboard down, and smiles down at the both of them. "Honestly it is a miracle you both are alive, but the good news is I can say with one-hundred percent accuracy that the Lovers Cross in your system was killed off by intensely selective hypothermia; it seems it isn't an extremophile like you too," she jokes, though she sighs all the same, "Get some rest, and I'll wake you both up in the morning." She leaves the room, and only the soft snoring of Celine and Mikan are heard, besides the sound of the medical instruments.

"How?" he croaks out, directed to Lala, "Don't remember..."

"Peke came after us," Lala supplies, "We were both unconscious but signs of a battle were apparent all around us; a man my Father identified as the infamous 'Marduke' that's been terrorizing planets in this sector of the galaxy was found dead nearby." She leans into him, feeling his warmth, and his hers, even through the thick and heavy blanket. "Apparently he had signs of stabbing and intense frostbite, like a frozen sword was run through him; apparently it might have destroyed an ancient weather altering device before it ran him through and killed him," she reports softly, so as not to scare or wake up the other occupants of the room, "We found traces of blood, and flower petals that weren't the same as the ones you and I were spitting up; DNA tracing hasn't brought anything conclusive back yet, but Father and Mikado-Sensei will let us know if anything comes up, especially since whoever was infected by the Lovers Cross had much more advanced symptoms than we both did in our few hours of exposure."

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 _Somewhere on the dark side of the Moon_

The air was thin in the small atmospheric tent he had set up in the shadowed side of the moon, but it was the safest place for him to hide in plain sight. Some miles above his head, a Devilukean destroyer was in orbit, the Emperor's own personal starship, and if he had been somewhere on the opposite side of the moon, either the world below or the ship above could find him easily and with enough time. So he hid in the shadows and prayed no one was looking, while he felt the tightening in his chest grow worse with each passing hour, and there was no longer anything he could do about it. What little power the Taoist Pearl of this universe held within it, to freeze and safely remove the threat of the Lovers Cross from this world's Rito and Lala, had been exhausted, as had the weapon he used to kill Marduk.

Wiping a bit of crusty blood from his mouth, ignoring the bitter taste and the petals stuck in his teeth, he felt the machine as it worked in vain to try and purge the infection from his body. His iron throne, his mobile fortress home, was a technological miracle that had scanned and brought him across countless worlds and universes in their long journey, and the truth was that both of their days were slowly running out. Ever since he had used the spatial jump function to bring him to and from Earth, the virus had taken hold and would have choked him out, if it wasn't for the fact that he was using his machine's miraculous power to target and revert the cellular age of the spores and force them to regress from their blooms into a dormant state, but still they grew with an unabashed pace inside his body; unhinged from the natural course of time as his own body was, this allowed them to whither and die within his body, only to be reborn in the next moment. His armor naturally tried to regulate and suppress them, but it was futile, and he felt like his life force was being chipped away from within him;worse than any blade, hit, or blow he had received in all the thousands of worlds he had walked since his birth into this new role.

Unplugging himself from the machine, which was little more than a five foot platform with room for two standing on it, and instead he chose to lean on its four foot tall by two foot wide safety railing. Removing his helmet, which was dangerous in such a thinly maintained atmosphere, he sees the stains of blood hit the platform, unsealed by the action of removing his protective gear. Wondering how long it had been since he had last seen home, he realized that the end of his journey might just be drawing quicker to its end with ever ragged breath and painful minute that passed him by. Turning the helmet around to stare at the engraved letters on its front to remind him of his promise made, of his duty sworn, and of his eventual reunion with the one he had loved the most of all...

Replacing the helmet of his head, he turned to grab the discarded, broken sword and picked it up to swing aloft to get a better look at it in the sunlight reflected off the Earth itself. "Lunatique, open the abyss and prepare to receive and analyze another sword for its properties," the man with the mask says out loud, "We need to figure out what New Eden is doing, targeting Rito's across the multiple timelines, and how they are organizing a multi-dimensional terrorist organization with all of these radically different agendas..."

Fading into existence, a green eyed blonde girl that is dressed in a simple, black dress that reaches down to the floor, is kneeling on the empty spot while being projected from the same apparatus where he had connected to the machine. Standing to revealing the pale, bare feet of the adult figure, the dress stopping at the height of just below her knees, one could see that this woman would shimmer as she walks over towards the man. Eyes turning a deep magenta as she lifts up her hand to take the blade from her companion, with her free hand she puts it out to the side and opens a rift in space. "Abyss isolation protocol initiated, item #3,759 has been categorized and profile of resident time/space of origin noted and recorded," the monotonous voice states, as the girl takes the dull, blue sword and inserts it into the rift she had made, before another swipe of her hand closes it, "Previous user and owner noted as Rito Yuuki, trace amounts of Taoist Power identified and classified as weak, low threat, label: 'Freeze'." The blone continues to speak, identifying more and explaining as he watches. "Identity of former user of 'Freeze' based power: Deek Slathky, deceased, is now noted as well," Eyes returning to a spring green, rather than the magenta, the construct of light turns to her companion to regard him, "Noted unsuccessful use of totally spent Taoist power, hereof labeled 'Freeze' to remove previously undocumented biological organism, titled Lovers Cross, as failure." A frown crossing the constructs face, he smiles at the fake display of emotions, knowing she meant well at the sympathetic reaction to what he already knew.

"I'm going to die," he simply responds, "The pearl was spent saving this world's Rito and Lala; I'm fine with that, but we still have more work to do Yami..." Breath hitching at the slipup, the emotionless personality of his machine doesn't make any show of response, and he humorously barks out a stressed filled laugh. "Sorry Lunatique, it's just you remind me so much of her..." he states, knowing the machine did not really care what her designation was, since he had given it to her anyway. To the machine, a name didn't really matter much. "Lunatique, prepare for another jump; I feel like we'll get closer to finding that bastard Shiki this time..." he states, as he looks up to the Earth and the looming ship eclipsing most of his view, "They're always one jump ahead of us, but I know that this time I'll get him, and he'll tell me exactly where to find the Doctor, I just know it."

"Probability of expectations being fulfilled: 0.00013%," the machine responds, before breaking down her form of light and returning to inhabit the time traveling device, warming up the Dirac Warp Engine, prepping the Infinite DXcel, as he called the device.

He couldn't call it anything else, really, though he wouldn't add 'Pyon-Pyon' or the honorific '-Kun', to the device, but he would honor her last invention with a name befitting its creator's personality. A time machine, one that had been modified of course after the initial jump, but all in all the overly pleasant result was a device he could use against the maniacs who had ruined his life, his world, with their crazed experiments being carried across through proxies that were little more than puppets who didn't know the truth. Then there were bigwigs like Marduke, whom he had learned after a few separate encounters were more often than not able to disappear and reappear in other timelines, as long as an active White Taoist Pearl existed in their current reality. He had taken out four, now five, of their number: Marduke, Ghoul, Zagine, Baldorias, Maro.

He knew there were still yet more of these madmen out there, whether they were innocent or not in one reality, they were still crueler yet in ten others. He knew of at least of their numbers who had committed herself to self-destruction, after a botched transference had stranded her within a virtual construct of a world that had quickly broken down due to her presence in the game causing logic errors that forced them to abort the game, with a golden watering can of all things. He had honestly wondered if she had gifted them the power to defeat her, using that watering can, though he had confirmed her presence had been removed and eliminated like a common computer bug. He had almost been worried when he saw another version of her located in that reality, but he had checked and confirmed that the duplicate had existed as a television character long before Kyouko's own insertion into that reality.

"Trouble Quest, man I haven't thought of that game in years," he said to himself, looking up at the sparkling jewel of his home planet yet again, "Momo and Nana had me so worried that they had kidnapped you, Lala, and then they stranded us in an unfinished game like that..." He chuckled at the distant memories, they felt like they were a lifetime ago, but he cherished the good times he had with his former love and his friends and family.

"I'll save you, over and over again if I have to" Rito Yuuki affirmed to himself yet again, as he watched the Devilukean ship pull away from the planet, "Ten odd years of time lost, made up with ten odd years of ensuring the mistakes of the past and present never lead to another tragic future like ours, my love." The memory of that gorgeous woman, the one who began his own troubled quest, lingered in his mind. "One day, I'll find you, I'll thank you for this fourth chance at life," he says to the blue jewel, as he turns back to the machine and uses the stump of a tail left from the cannibalization that led to the chimeric, cobbled together, sort of masterpiece that was her final gift to him.

"But first I have to save myself," he states, as his hands grip the safety railing, and he feels his power and conscious thought flow into the machine, "Let's see what universe number 3760 brings us..." In a flash of white light, an afterimage of rippling, red space lights up the scarred and untouched dark side of the moon, before fading back into the dark.

All was right with the world.

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And _then_ all of space and time imploded.

 _ **A/N: Well, a nice little surprise, to be sure. I mean, three chapters in a day? This is the follow up piece to Chapter 52 of To Love Ru: I Struggle. Hopefully it lives up to its predecessor.**_

 _ **Don't forget to favorite or follow, or leave a review about what you think. I haven't forgotten my story, I just have a hectic life and writers block hits you like a brick sometimes. Hope you enjoy, and have a great week(end?)!**_


	12. Darkness approaches

_**A/N: Welcome to the first of the three final chapters of this story. We've come to the end of the road folks, so thanks for joining me on this journey. As always I do not own To Love-Ru, Black Cat, Mayoi Neko Overrun, or the song Gardens. Also, fair warning of graphic description, not for the faint of heart. Looks like we lost the comedy, folks!  
**_

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 _Earth_

"We need to talk," Otome Tsuzuki states to the twin princesses and the others present in Mikado-sensei's clinic, "But not here..." She stops the others from following, after singling Momo and Nana. "I'm afraid this is a private conversation," the woman in silver dress clothes informs the rest, while holding up her hand, "The princesses of Deviluke have... personal investment, that requires me to bring them to my superiors." The two princesses follow her out of the clinic, after explaining the situation to the others, Miss Tsuzuki began to explain a bit more about what was going on.

"The Unified Lateral Taskforce Regulating Aliens, or Ultra, is an organization that has been dedicated to the preservation of human culture amid a massive influx of alien refugees, ever since the infamous and highly classified 'Roswell Incident' the American's had over a half a century ago," Otome explains, as she takes the twin Deviluke sisters with her into a silver van, "When it was recognized that alien immigration was going to become a worldwide problem, many separate states attempted to create various organizations to combat and deal with extra terrestrial threats." She begins to start up the car, as the two princesses buckle themselves into the car. "Until sometime twenty or so years ago, U.L.T.R.A., in its infancy, was formed as a unified, global effort under the direction and supervision of another group that policed such extra galactic threats..." Otome informs the two.

"The Galactic Police?" Nana asked, as she looked skeptically at the woman, who had left Doctor Mikado's house to begin driving to yet another location, "Don't get me wrong, they're fairly competent in keeping people locked up, but I couldn't imagine them interfering in local affairs, especially, and no offense, of a Class-S planet like Earth...". Otome didn't respond, merely smiled as she continued to focus on her driving, as they approached the city of Sainan itself.

"Not quite, while we've recently had more civilized dealings with their immigration department, it was a representative of another group, one our benefactor had to cut ties with after it suddenly went dark some time afterwards, that we benefited from," Otome replies, "They've actually had an eye on our planet for quite some time, in fact they had actually classified our planet as Class-S to ward people off for years that way, because of how much cultural contamination our planet has actually had over the centuries..."

"Centuries?" Momo states in shock and disbelief, "Earth was barely considered to be civilized within the past half a century, what use could Earth have ever brought to alien visitors when its understanding of electricity barely peaked in the 1800's." Her skeptical gaze crossed with her sisters was proof that neither sister believed her story.

"Did your sister ever tell you about the time she dug a sprawling tunnel complex under Sainan, all in search of a natural Hot Springs?" Otome asks casually, much to the shock of he sisters, who had heard of the embarrassing incident from a few of Rito's own classmates, as well as their sister, though they knew no one else should know of it. Otome just chuckled and laughed off their stares, as she turned off the busy road, towards their final destination in downtown Sainan. "Well, she discovered, and promptly buried, a few ancient secrets; fragments of which we were able to retrieve after the chaos settled down from tapping into the molten core of the planet, and what we found showed us that Earth has been the sight of past alien interference for centuries, perhaps even millennia," Otome states, "Stories of an ancient city called Atlantis, an underground civilization of 'mole' men, a literal empire made up of dinosaurs... all of it was too crazy to really understand, until we found evidence of something ancient...". Finally pulling over to a stop, in front of Sainan High School of all places, both Nana and Momo realizes that the Tsuzuki sister had basically driven them in a large, complex route to go somewhere relatively close to Rito's house just by walking.

"Why are we here?" Nana asked, as Otome doesn't even stop to enter the main school grounds, and continues on around to the back, "Why are you wasting our time, going to this school... no, no way, not that death trap!" Nana's sudden objection would have seemed warranted, as Otome led the girls towards the rickety, old, wooden building that inhabited the old school grounds: the original Sainan School building.

"The building is safe, I can assure you nothing is wrong with it," Otome states to the two sisters, as she heads onwards into the death trap of a school that Shizu had once called her resting place, "It was the perfect place to hide something when the Murasame family had the school restored, after you kids destroyed it in your fight with Miss Lunatique, err- that is, Yami." Nana and Momo both look unsure, but follow the strange girl into the dark.

Once inside the building it looked virtually the same as before, until she took them both to an abandoned and empty looking supply closet, which had nothing but a few spare planks of wood, a hammer, a bucket and some nails inside of it, as she opened the door to the small room. "Come on," she said, motioning them inside the cramped closet, "This is just the entrance, the main site is underneath your school." As the two stepped inside and Otome closed the door, plunging them all into the darkness, the two waited with baited breath as they just stood there in the dark.

"Ok, this is just ridiculous," Nana states, after two minutes of standing there in the dark, as she crosses her arms with a huff, "If you're going to lie and make fun of us, you might as well...". Before she could continue with that line of thought, a sudden burst of blue light lit up the room, as the warm feeling of a sensor grid washed over them, scanning the room for a few moments, before plunging the room into the dark yet again. A sudden shift of weight and boards fell away, as the floor opened up beneath them and they descended while standing upon a disguised elevator, as the wooden floor closed up over them and returned the illusion to the closet. As they descended in a sleek, metal shaft with lighting, it showed that it was obviously built using advanced technology supplied by aliens of some kind. They hit the end of the line as they were lowered to the bottom of the shaft, while ahead of them the lights extended into another tunnel that continued on a ways forward.

"Welcome to U.L.T.R.A. HQ's new Sainan Division," Tsuzuki states with pride, as they walk up to a pair of shiny, steel doors that open up to reveal a monitor hub filled with screens and technology at the touch of ones fingertips, "Since this town seems to have become trouble central, ever since Mr. Yuuki got himself invested with a foreign power, HQ has decided to make sure this place is here to fix up your town, even if it means that that help is from the shadows." Nana and Momo look around at the various human beings in silver threaded work attire, suits made of reflective, space age material one would expect to be made of some form of tin foil.

"What's with the suits?" Momo asks, as they walk past men and women sitting at computers, working away while observing various monitoring instruments, "I mean, I've heard of Ultra from our father, but I never knew the reason why he called you guys 'silverfish', was because you took the color thing this seriously...". The young Ms. Tsuzuki laughed a bit at that response, but guided them both to a separate room where they could chat.

Entering into the room, a long wooden table surrounded by chairs could be seen, with Otome motioning for the pair to take a seat, she herself stood at attention by the door. Before either sister could question why this was, yet another figure stepped into the room and hung a large blue army coat with gold epaulets on a rack, and turned to reveal that he a large man that looked to be in his late thirties, to early forties.

The man was dressed in clothes unlike the others, and though this could have been a reflection of his status in the organization, the man simply smiled as he took a seat at the head of the table, while Otome took the chair to his right after closing the door. He was dressed in blue slacks that matched the color of the jacket, he also wore a purple dress shirt, with a strangest looking black and orange tie that stood out on his figure. His blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and his blue eyes were kind and creased at the edges with laugh lines. "Second princess Nana Astar Deviluke, third princess Momo Belia Deviluke; I welcome you both to Sainan's new Ultra Headquarters," he states, as he leans forward with a smile and a large paw to shake each princesses hand in turn, "I am Director Rochefort, the liaison between Earth and the Stars, former second in command of..."

"The Chronos Numbers, Number II," Momo supplies, interrupting his introduction, "I was told that Earth's benefactor may not be human, but to think he was also once the second in command of the fallen organization, Chronos... I was led to believe Number Twelve, or Kuro as we know him, was the last surviving member of that organization...". The director merely smiles in reply, as he nods along with her story.

"That- is a very long and complicated story, to be sure, and also one I am a bit ashamed to admit is mostly my fault for propagating it as being valid," Director Rochefort states in reply, as he casts his eyes downward to the table, "I had believed my predecessor, one of the Elders of Chronos, had the best intentions when he brought that madman into our organization as a prisoner...". He closes his fist tightly, to the point both Nana and Momo think the man is going to bleed from his hand from the pressure. "But I cannot stay in the past," Rochefort states, as he looks up towards the two princesses, "And I have invited you both here, today, to inform you of the capture of the man who has caused both myself, your friends, and sister problems." Both Nana and Momo's eyes went wide at that, as the director stood to motion them over to a window to another room, whereupon they noticed a man in a white doctor's coat, cuffed to a table inside.  
"He actually gave himself up, about an hour before we sent junior ambassador Tsuzuki to retrieve you," Rochefort states, as he turns to the two princesses with a serious look, "As he was a prisoner of your father, and he technically hasn't committed any crimes on Earth, as of yet, we will be forced to turn him over to the Galactic Police Department's extradition department, unless you two know of a way to get in contact with your father the Emperor...". Nana spoke up now.

"Perhaps more than that, we can give you reason to hold him until both Galactic Police and/or Devilukean Space Navy could retrieve him," she states, as she gives a dirty look to the man sitting on the opposite side of the window, a stare of contempt, "We believe he attacked both a friend of ours in Sainan, and one in a public school in lower Shurufuku; earlier today, in fact." At that the Director's brow furrowed and creased as his face turned into a frown with that information.

"I'm afraid I don't know how that could be possible, ladies, considering Shurufuku is a full hour away, at least during mid morning traffic hours," the director responds, "We picked him up in Sainan earlier this afternoon, around lunchtime, when he turned himself in to our agents." He then walks over to a video monitor and brings up footage of Shurufuku High, from a nearby traffic camera. "We have checked video cameras that show us his location entering on a bus headed from Shurufuku this afternoon, towards Sainan," the director continues, as he fast forwards to another video, showing the Doctor exiting the bus at a later time stamp, "and he did not have any warp particles anywhere on his body, so he can't have transferred from the bus to the pastry shop and back, without massive warning signals on our end." At that both Nana and Momo were perplexed at that, as they knew that the Doctor had left from Shurufuku at lunch time, but had also appeared at the Stray Cat Patisserie when Yui was attacked as well, and only a half hour or so later at that point in time.

"It's not unfeasible that the Doctor could have made it there in time for both, since you could have lost track of him between Shurufuku and here," Nana states, crossing her arms as she looks to the side, into the room where the Doctor was being held, "It wouldn't be hard for such a man to fake his own warp trail, too, he could have something on his person skewing the read outs as well." The director nods, but puts a hand on the window as he turns to the princesses.  
"We don't know for sure, but we could ask him what he knows; using all we can learn, we can corroborate that with both witness testimony and street cameras," the director states with a sigh, "But until he speaks, we have very little to go on." It was at that point that Nana was fed up with everything going on, that she eyed the door, and then kicked it in.

The Doctor didn't even react to the outburst, simply sat there smiling, as the Devilukean Princess marched straight up to him, grabbing him by the collar. She lifted him up, though not far as the rattling of the chains of his handcuffs keeping him on a short leash were heard and seen as she did so, Nana snarling at him all the while. "Confess, you were the one who attacked our friend, in Shurufuku, right?" Nana asked, yet more so insinuated, of his guilt in that act, before slamming him back down into his seat, "You were the one who also attacked our other friend at a coffee shop in broad daylight, weren't you!" Momo burst in on her tirade, grabbing her older sister and holding her back, as the Doctor tried to unruffled his shirt and rub the marks from his neck at her rough treatment of him.

"I'm afraid not, Princess; 'I' came here because that nut-job has come back to finish his botched assassination!" the 'Doctor' replied, as he frowned at the stronger tomboy and the more demure sister, "I didn't attack any student in Shurufuku, but if that man with my face had taken my place by posing as me, I wouldn't put it past him to have attacked a student to ruin my teaching career...or my life!" The man looked down into his cuffed hands, sighing as he did so, before looking back up at the two. "You've got to hear me out, I don't know the man, I never even saw him for very long before I hopped on the furthest bus away from Shurufuku," he explains, "I wanted to get here and turn myself in, so I could be somewhere safe and away from that look-a-like!" It was there that Momo stepped forward, pushing Nana back to question the Doctor.

"You said you didn't see him for very long, yet you not only knew he looked like you, but that he had come back, to finish a 'botched' assassination; what do you mean?" Momo states, getting to the point, "You act like you expected to see him again..." Kirizaki Kousuke looks nervous, as he stares between the two princesses, before grabbing the collar of his turtleneck and pulling it down to reveal a four inch scar across his throat.

"I'm no human, I'm an alien refugee from before the Silverfish put up there strict regulations of immigration; I snuck through going on a little over twenty years now, from a garbage pile called Kild," the man says, letting go of the neck of his sweater, "I had managed to obtain a scholarship to a prestigious scientific university that got me out of that armpit and into a real scientific college on a technological paradise, real forefront, bleeding edge kind of technology we had then; but we were still college age kids, we had parties, we stayed late doing projects, things like that..." He absently rubs the scar over his turtleneck, while looking up with a dead eyed expression at the two girls. "I was heading home from the lab, real late at night since I worked on super sensitive nanotechnology, when this guy jumped me in a blind alley," Kousuke explained, "He held a knife to my throat, sliced me up good, and left me for dead after stealing my jacket and my keycard to my lab...but I managed to get a good look at him as I lay there bleeding out..." He clenches his fist, as he gets lost in the memory, much to Nana and Momo's surprise. "He looked like me, damn it all, and he just had this... cold expression; an emptiness, full of disdain towards me, or something like that," he finishes, "He didn't know I had...borrowed an experimental vial of nanites, one I was tweaking for coding purposes against damage to the body, and I managed to use it on myself long enough to patch myself up and skip town real fast." He looks up towards the princess'. "Get lost in a backwater planet like Earth, and everybody assumes your dead, or just as well off..."

Nana found it hard to believe, but it was Momo who voiced her opinion. "So he took your identity, Kirisaki Kousuke, and then what? Helped build a criminal empire just for the laughs, using your own technology?" she states accusingly, as the Doctor just puts his hands down onto the table, and a look of dismay crosses his face, disheartened by her gruff words, "Don't get me wrong, your story may be a bit unbelievable, but how did he know where you worked, and why target my friends, if he was really after you?" The Doctor didn't have any words, but there was a sudden disturbance outside the closed off room, before the door opened and gave way to a flurry of shouts from others, including the director himself, who entered the room along with another.

"-I don't care who you are, Ma'am, but security is security, and you can't just warp into my base and act like it is yours," the Director states, as another, cloaked figure had entered the room, "Everything is under control, so we don't need the Devilukean Space Navy suddenly warping into Earth's satellite range and undoing the illusions and cover-ups we've been delicately recovering from, after King Gid's last intrusion..." The figure stops and turns to look back at the director, to address him directly.

"Not the Devilukean Space Navy, Mister Rochefort, just a single, decommissioned warship from a bygone era," the figure says, removing her hood to reveal a cascade of pink locks, "And what you don't know is that a Galactic Police fleet is being rerouted to Earth, to enact their part in a galaxy spanning conspiracy against Earth, against Deviluke, and possibly against the benefit of the galaxy at large..." Lala Satalin Deviluke brings up her right hand, to reveal the heroes gauntlet, one of the twelve numbered artifacts that Chronos once controlled. "We just don't know how far it spans, or who is involved, but if my family gets caught in the middle of it, I can't be held responsible," Lala states, as she turns to her sisters and grabs them by the arms, "I'm afraid, director, that this discussion will have to be held another day; Kiraki Kousuke is still at large, and as far as I am concerned, he is a threat far greater..." She trails off, as if just now noticing the man in the room with her sisters, before letting both of them go and moving to the opposite of the table the man was sitting at.

"You OK there, princess?" the man who looked like the Doctor stated in concern, "You look like you just **lost** some important to you..." Lala takes her bare hand and tosses the table aside, much to the Doctor's surprise, as he is forcibly dragged to the floor along with it, hitting his head against the concrete floor.

"You won't win, monster," Lala snarls out, as both of her sisters confusion and Rochefort's desire to step in, grew, "Rito isn't gone, he'll be back or I will go save him, but I promise you thus: you won't get whatever it is you are wanting by playing these games." At that Kirisaki smiled, then flexed and broke the handcuffs, slowly rising to his feet and cracking his neck like it was stiff.

"Quite right," the Doctor says, as he puts a finger to his mouth and pulls out a broken tooth like it was nothing, having cracked from impact with the concrete floor, "I've held you up long enough that my master should have gotten young miss Sairenji's emotional parameters back to his lab..." He smirks, raising his eyes to the three beyond the eldest Princess. "But I'm afraid you're all quite too late to stop my master now," He states, his pupils dilating as he speaks, and the false Kirisaki brings his hands up to his head while doubling over, as if in pain.

" _ **Argggh**_!"

Digging his fingers into his head, the veins trailing along his skin quickly became black and bulbous, as if they were about to burst from intense pressure suddenly occurring under the surface. His skin ripples, then tears itself apart, exposing muscle and sinew, as he keeps on screaming in agony from the new revelation. Dripping, green liquid, exposed to the air from beneath the sagging flesh mask, a chitinous exoskeleton was revealed, and now yellow slits starred out of a bulbous head that had been freed from the Doctor's smaller form.

Before anyone could react, the whistling sound of something being tossed into motion was heard, as a spear came from out of nowhere and dug itself straight through the exposed, beaked mouth of the creature, as it opened to scream out a gargled roar. Only it was not to be, cut off in a gurgled whimper, once the weapon had done its job of piercing its throat. Lala, Nana, and Momo all looked back at the Director, as he stalked forward to grab his weapon from the insect replicant's body.

"A Gireo infiltrator... damn, I never would have thought they managed to get their cloning program working again..." Director Rochefort states, as he then lops off the head of the warrior while it was laying there on the prone, "Big space cockroaches; these beasts were once an ancient race, or rather it would be more proper to say they were the results of the unfortunate subjects that were subjected to cruel genetic experimentation and augmentation into the perfect monster." The director turned back to the three, a shadow over his face as he speaks.

"Long ago tales spoke of an ancient Host of beings that ravaged worlds in their hunger for power, but they had died out after coming into contact with a species with a certain trait that weakened their immunity and made them susceptible to various galactic diseases," Rochefort folds his hands together, and puts them in front of his face, "Solgam worked to resurrect this species, albeit imperfectly, and created the first batch of Gireo soldiers whom ended up going feral..." He looked briefly over to Lala, then to the gauntlet, before bringing himself to look down at the pile of green sludge left over from the Gireo's decomposing body. "That was the first time King Gid Lucione Deviluke personally intervened in the Galactic War," he states, as he put a hand to his head "It was the loss of ten of Deviluke's own children, kidnapped while the majority of the fleet was away, that drew him into a fight with that race of science-bred killers..."

"Children were kidnapped?" Nana stated, as she looked at her older sister, "Father never told us any of this..." Momo put a hand on her older sister's shoulder, while Lala gripped her fist tighter.

"You likely wouldn't have been told; the King of Deviluke isn't one to show weakness very easily, but the events happened, and even the King's own household was no exception to this horrible crime..." the Director states, as Lala's eyes go wide as she focuses on the director, who showed reprehension as he spoke, "Yes, among the ten children who were experimented on... you Princess Lala, were the only one saved from such a cruel fate by your own father's hands."

"And now we have no clue as to where the real Doctor Kousuke is," Nana states, as she leans and looks over the puddle of goop left behind by the double, "Or what he plans to do with that information he took from Haruna and Yui..." Nana feels Lala's gloved hand rest upon her shoulder, as Momo goes to stand on her other side as well.

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out together," Lala states with confidence, "And when he comes at us with whatever he has up his sleeve, we'll be ready for him!" Behind them, Director Rochefort stands with a hand on his weapon, as he watches the three Devilukean princess strengthen their conviction, as a slight shadow crosses his face.

"Ane-ue, if you're here," Momo speaks up, finally voicing her question, "Where's Rito?"

* * *

 _A tropical island,_  
 _A certain companies secret R &D Facility_  
 _Now_

Kirisaki Kousuke walked behind his junior, as Keize took the data chip from the car's download slots and prepared to archive its information inside the main facilities own data archives. "With this, preparation for the cloning tank will be complete, and we can begin phase two of your operation within the week, sir," Keize states, as he holds open the door to the central control room, where various nondescript scientists and workers were off in their own separate projects and tasks, "Shall I inform you when the new growth has reached infancy, or contact you only upon its peak maturation, so you can prepare the new personality core for transfer of the control codes into a new body?"

The Doctor pauses in his step, weighing his options, he then turns to Keize with a neutral expression. "I will be working in my personal quarters, so do not disturb me under any circumstances," the Doctor orders, as he crosses his arms to stare the younger scientist down, "You may send me an update to my personal computer, and will ensure no one else disturbs me... I've come across something interesting now." Kieze nods as if in understanding, and bows and steps out of the Doctor's way, before turning to watch the older scientist leave for his quarters.

The Doctor finds his room rather quickly, it was the only one down a certain hallway, with a hand scanner and retina scanners. They were simple enough to open, that he then walked into the room, and looked around for his personal computer, before fishing out a thumb drive from his coat pocket and bringing it out into the palm of his hand. Finding it fairly quickly, he opened it up and found the computer not locked, though with the retina scanner, it was a given that security on the personal computer was unnecessary.

It was minutes before he brought the computer online and began digging through the files, before hooking up the thumb drive to begin downloading the contents. The Doctor sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he waited for the files to finish. Programs flashed to life across the screen, as the countdown for download started from 10:00 and began to count down from there. Images and various graphs, some exploring the breakdown of the brain and its emotional centers, cutouts of the reasoning portion of the brain, readings of alpha, beta, and theta waves, functions of REM sleep, and its impact on the growth of a subject. Older files with names like / **KIRIYA, NOZOMI** /,  
/ **KOTEGAWA, YUI** /, / **DEVILUKE, LALA** /, and the most recent file, downloaded wirelessly it seemed: **/SAIRENJI, HARUNA/**.

Kirisaki felt a cold chill down his spine, as he read those words, and realized that his time was most likely up. Ripping the thumb drive from the computer, he quickly turned to leave the room, ignoring the state of the computer as it was, only to feel space rip open before him, as a massive, black blade attempted to speared itself through his stomach and out his back. He jumped back, out of reflex, only for yet another gate to open from behind him and succeed, due to lack of control of his momentum from the sudden movement. He bit his tongue in surprise, a splash of red flying from his mouth out of reflex from a sudden urge to cough, as his eyes opened wide in surprise at the figure that was holding the weapon that was impaling him and sticking out of where his heart would be.

"It's almost ironic," the voice that was similar to his own stated in a teasing tone, "I remember stabbing you in the back like this shortly after you tried to do the same to me; I figured you would have been smarter than to ever show your face in front of me again, Doctor." The face of Krisaki Kousuke stared back at his own face, though he seemed to lack the same white jacket that he had been wearing earlier. "I even had to give that stupid quick grown clone my jacket I had kept of yours, so as to throw off the princess' trail of clues as to who is really behind this," the Doctor states to his other self, "When I felt the seal weaken all the way in Talha, I would have figured it would have taken you weeks, maybe days to return..." Blood merely dripped down the First Blade impaled in his chest, as the other Doctor continues to speak with little hesitancy or compassion. "Here you are, attempting to download my schematics and plans, and do what?" he laughs at the others miserable gasps, "I sent the equivalent of a suicide bomber to kill my most valuable piece, and even if you had gotten to them, they would have likely killed you thinking you were another trap."

The Doctor smiled as he pulled the sword out of his back, and dropped it into the pool of blood forming at his feet. "Too bad; I guess you don't get your revenge on me after all..." the Doctor laughed, as his double fell face first to the floor, and then leaned over his body, "Or at least that is what I would like to say to the real Doctor; from one shape shifter to another, it's difficult to replicate a man you haven't really met for real, huh?"

The others eyes went wide at that, before closing in resignation. "No use hiding it, the blade was poisoned with enough static dark energy; it will break your form down in mere minutes," the 'Doctor' states, as the other Kirisaki clutches the wound in his chest, "Or I can force you to show me..." Pulling out a strange item from his pockets, he points it at Kirisaki, and the pained groan and snapping of bones is forcefully heard from the prone form bleeding out.

Blood turning black, pale flesh gaining a darker hue, short hair growing long, and cold pink eyes, become a dazzling gold, as a short, feminine form clad in a black kimono is left there in his place.

"Ah, Nemesis it is, then," the Doctor states with a laugh, as he replaces the object in his concealed pocket, and crosses his arms, "Well, unexpected to be sure; I was hoping you wouldn't have noticed my actions in Sainan..." Through gritted teeth Nemesis looks up at the man who coldly stares back down at her, a bleeding black wound between her ribs, as her body was destabilized by the seemingly highest concentration of energy she had ever received in one attack.

"It was his eyes, if you were wondering," the Doctor absently states at random, as she just stares up at him, leaking her cohesive bodily energy, "One of his eyes are permanently orange...after he scooped it out of the socket of a man who had the power to see seconds into the future, and transplanted it into himself for the same ability." He laughs, his own pink eyes staring down at him as he does so. "I guess that just means we're both fakes, aren't we," the other 'Doctor' stats, leaning down once again to whisper to her, "It's a shame you won't get to see me achieve my goals; you would have been so proud of the chaos that my new 'Zero Numbers' group will soon spread..."

Nemesis struggles to grasp for the poisoned blade, perhaps to swing it at his smug face, perhaps to hasten her own end, but the act is useless as her body goes still and refuses to move.

"Perhaps you will be useful for me in your next life," the 'Doctor' states, though she can no longer see him clearly, as the cold shadows begin to draw over her, "Take her body and the sword to processing; she may prove useful yet." Hearing him state those words, she can't understand whom he is giving those orders too, yet she can feel whomever it is lift her petite body up like a sack of potatoes, before she finally succumbs to the loss of energy as her body begins to shut down.

 _Minutes later..._

"Are preparations ready for phase three?" the Doctor asks Keize, who had finally come back to his bosses personal room, after he was called to take care of the unconscious TRANS Weapon, Nemesis. The alien scientist took an electronic tablet from his hands and gave it to the senior scientist.

"Solgam command station is waiting to hear from you on line two, the new growth has entered fetal stage and is expected to reach peak levels of maturation within a day, thanks in part to the added ability of utilizing Nemesis," Keize reports, as the Doctor goes to look over the presented information he had written up, "Your clone has been discovered and killed, but our insider in the U.L.T.R.A. task force insists we are moving too fast, that he can't keep covering our mistakes like that... Oh, and that apparently the Princess of Deviluke has returned ahead of our expectations, and that she has brought two refitted warships with her." The Doctor hands the tablet back to the younger man, then turns to sigh up at the empty room, before walking over to a certain cabinet.

"Very well, Keize, inform Solgam Command that the Boss can expect the Earth to be his within the hour; they can teleport into the predetermined coordinates without any incident or fear," the Doctor states, as he crosses his hands behind his back, his glasses reflecting the light and shielding his eyes, "Ensure them that their presence in-system is absolutely crucial to Phase Three, and that failure to arrive is tantamount to admitting that the 'Boss' doesn't have any faith in my delivering on my promises to all of you." Opening the cabinet and grabbing two stemmed glasses and a bottle of expensive wine, the Doctor turns back to Keize and hands him one.. "Assure him that his being here will only cement our rule as the grand experiment runs into its final stretch," he states with renewed vigor towards Keize, pouring him a glass of wine after sniffing the cork, "This world full of sinners will soon be left in darkness; to miss it would be to miss savoring the dawning of the end of the Devilukean Empire; the end of the reign of King Gid Lucione Deviluke..."

He takes a sip of the rich, red wine, and looks towards an unsure Keize. "We must all be here to witness the crowning glory of Solgam's tireless efforts," the Doctor states with an appreciative, wicked smile, "The ending of the Grand Experiment shall be something that will be etched into the rest of history... long may it be remembered, as the universe falls into our hands!"

* * *

 _Another place_

 _In a blackened bog, stained with the darkest of blood and desire, a corpse twitched in the water and reeds before sinking into the watery ink. Swiftly and surely, a sword was impaled through the bloated body; a blonde figure then removed and wiped the blood off of his stained blade. "Not even worth it," the boy stated, as he stared down at the corpse, "It was too bad that you tried to use my own power against me, otherwise you might have had a chance..." Looking up into the sky above, he realized that something beyond the physical veil had been calling to him, as he felt the pull of the manufactured world lessen and turn into a push, hurrying him along._

 _It seems he would have his chance at escaping this world sooner than he had expected. Adam smiled, there was a new mission for him now: to ensure the creation of a new Eve. Wiping a bit of blackened blood from the side of his mouth, Adam took the blade and absorbed it within himself, storing its power inside his own body. It would have its use soon enough in the other world. But now he had to turn his attention elsewhere._

 _In his free hand a red orb materialized, the leftovers of the Eve-simulacrum's digital body, her usefulness for this phase ending as she was reduced to a simple chain of commands and bits. What it represented was the consciousness of a new Eve, a newly reformed, blank slate awaiting his commands and implantation into its desired receptacle, a better version than the one that had been flawed and rebellious. This Eve's physical, emotional, and moral patterns would be based off of a new, incorrupted source. She would obey her master totally, following his commands obediently, just as all prior Eve-class programs before her had done for the regular Adam-class programs; before his own assuming of the position, of course._

 _This time would be different, a promising change that would shake everyone and everything._

 _But first they would have to materialize in their new home dimension. The First Sword had already been retrieved, it was assured he would no doubt inhabit that upon his arrival, but the girl, this new Eve, would assume a new, different body, a new identity free of the memories and restrictions that had needlessly made his work at programming her correctly, possible._

 _As he spoke, a giant black coffin was rising from the ground, the door back into the world they had been taken out of. In it, a single depression just perfect enough to fit the orb, was positioned on its face._

 _She would be the first of her kind, a third generation TRANS-Weapon. He was happy to give her a new designation._

 _"Lilith," he says, as he raises the orb to offer it to the black coffin, pushing himself into making the connection with the system outside this artificial universe, "Prepare yourself, to make your grand entrance into a brand new world..."_

* * *

 _ **(/- "Gardens" - Mami Kawada -/)**_

Like a noose being tightened, the bubbling red energy entwined along the blonde's neck in the design of an innocuous, lace choker until it settled, staining her pure skin brightly with its blood-red color. A small, red gemstone at her throat, warm to the touch, is the only thing that remains of the orb of red energy, having combined with the entranced Eve, who remained silent and unfocused, eyes closed despite the sudden changes all around her. Had her eyes been alert and open, one would have seen the light drained from her, turning deep maroon into a muddy violet.

 ** _(/-"The flower swaying in the garden answers by stretching up_**  
 ** _To give a good morning kiss standing on tiptoes -/)_**

"Transplant of the Anarchist Beryl seems to have been successful..." a blonde boy states coolly, having discarded the face of another he wore for his true face, "Eve, can you hear me?" Maroon eyes fluttered open, and long blonde hair flutters in the wind as the illusion of the castle begins to crumble away, dispelled along with the ruse of the fog that had separated everyone from those around them. Adam looked beyond the castles structure, where he could see the ruined world beginning to show its true colors with the mental perception field gone. A vast desert wasteland, filled with craggy rocks and pointed spirals, filled with shadows and darkness beyond them with more hidden danger.

 _ **(/- Now let's go! -/)**_

Azenda stood over the corpse of Shiki's Gireo clone, while Mea stood mere feet from her at the base of a boggy wetlands, where the shadows tried to break through into the oasis surrounding the ruins of a once great castle. A broken crystal graveyard was not far from either of them, where the Black Cat lay bruised, battered, and bleeding into the dirt, with another man standing over him at the base of a massive scattering of these crystals.

 _ **(/- Caught off guard by the sudden whirlwind, I reflexively crouch down**_  
 _ **My skirt hides the weakness inside**_  
 _ **I brush it off firmly -/)**_

"Queen of Darkness, please answer me!" Adam stated, smiling as he lifts himself up in front of her, "I am now your King of Shadows, and you will listen to me, and only answer to myself." The girl's eyes were dulled, faint and far away, yet she nodded as if listening to his words very closely. "Our master is calling; he wants us to come to him directly and to bring this world of shadows back to its rightful place..." He raises an arm to the stars, and loudly begins to declare: "Rip open the heavens, tear this island amidst darkness asunder, if you must, and return us to the origin world: to Earth!"

 _ **(/- Let's bloom to our fullest in this irregular everyday life full of misfortune**_  
 _ **I can't be honest, so you have to look closely**_  
 _ **I carefully buried the memory of my hesitance in the soil -/)**_

Violet eyes alight anew with purpose, an order received, the blonde girl dressed in gothic black walks forward out of the ruins, and towards the star filled sky. Wings rip free from her dress, which cause it to fall to tatters at the sudden change without any care or precautions, leaving her bare as she flies away from the ruins towards the open fields below. As she lands, the dust seems to coalesce around her at her very steps, until a pristine white dress covers her nude figure once more, a beguiling, simple design. Ignoring her fallen companions as she continues forward, stepping beyond a frozen Azenda, a battered Mea who was supported by her, the fallen form of Kuro and the other man; Eve walks through the flowering field with a purpose.

 ** _(/- 'A flower blooming in your heart' -/)_**

Bringing her hands to the choker around her neck, the red jewel pulses to life, the imprint around her neck flashing in and out of existence as she gathers the power between her hands, shaping yet another orb of energy into existence. Raising them high into the air, she fires it off into the darkened sky, a flash and a bang, and the sky was lit up by a new morning star. A massive cross of dazzling, red light alights the sky in a burning halo, as the four points stretch across the sky like growing scars.

 ** _(/- I dream of that day." -/)_**

"Nee-chan..." Mea states in bedazzled awe, as she watches the four points of light streak off into the four corners of the visible horizon. Azenda merely grits her teeth, as Mea helps her stand, as they both move toward where Kuro is, and where yet Yami stands beyond them all.

"That was the satellite she just hit..." Azenda states in a somewhat choked voice, as she watches streaks of wreckage fall into the atmosphere along the paths of streaking light, "She's using its solar collectors, reversing the mirrors they use to create artificial daylight, to spread that energy across this world." The wave of energy grows as Azenda helps Mea stand, the two turn to where Kuro was splayed across the garden grounds.

"So, this is your plan," cryptically states the man who appears to be yet another Kirisaki Kousuke, "Bring this world to Earth... but will you truly be able to carry out your master plan?" Taking the bleeding and prone form of the Black Cat into his hands, the Doctor removes a vial from his coat, a viscous metal inside it, and he takes some joy in stabbing his newest 'patient' with it. "Too bad I had a back-up plan," the Doctor states with sinister glee, as he steps back to admire his work, "I made sure to keep my ace up my sleeve..." He watches as Kuro is wracked with pain, sweating bullets and foaming at the mouth after being injected by the vial, its unknown mixture that he had cooked up wrecking havoc inside his body.

Black began screaming, just as Azenda and Mea managed to get close enough to approach him; he began to go into a crazed, frenzied state while writhing on the ground, tearing at his clothes, his sweat stained shirt ripped apart by his bare hands, freeing his form from the constrictive clothing. His very cells were being harshly overwritten, power flowing into him unlike any before, until he couldn't contain it anymore. It wasn't until a bruise began to form just below his collarbone and above his heart, that the pain gave any inkling of subsiding.

"Black!" Mea shouts, as Azenda sets her down, both having been drained from each of their separate battles. Mea then tried to stop her sisters favored one from hurting himself any further,before things got out of control and her sister went beyond her own help. "Black, Kuro, what is wrong?" she pleads,as she grabs him, trying to stop him from struggling, "What is...that?" Her eyes staring at the inky bruise, she realizes his body temperature is slowly dropping, the struggle lessening, as she watches letters take shape on her friends chest.

 _XIII_

Lucky Number Thirteen.

Black Cat opens his eyes, a glowing yellow sclera, an inhumane slit; a true cat's eye had replaced his own.

Soon, he would have revenge.

* * *

Meanwhile, the crazed looking Adam, who was satisfied with having seen everything come together so smoothly, watched as his beloved Eve began to rip apart the very fabric of space and time, transforming and using the remnants of the artificial satellite to do her work. A giant black hole was opening before his very eyes, as the cross of light inverted like an unfolded piece of origami, forming a massive disc of golden-red light

"Drown this world in Darkness, my beloved Eve," Adam cries out loudly, "A world full of sin awaits our master's judgment; let us not keep his grand plan waiting any longer..." Eve opens the rift, and begins to pass the world through the largest gateway ever, spanning two galaxies. The world is eclipsed. All hope is swallowed with the light.

 _Darkness was coming home._


	13. Burnt Bridges

**A/N: Welcome to chapter 2/3 today. Please go back one if you haven't read the first, or continue on an enjoy the second to final chapter.**

*Shoots Finger Guns* **Bet you guys can guess what comes next...**

 **I do not own To Love-Ru, or any of the other works of Yabuki Kentaro and Co. Fairly graphic descriptions ahead. You has been warn-ed.**

 _Solgam Mobile Headquarters_  
 _Redacted Location_

Outside a well known black market world, a certain inter-galactic satellite and space station belonging to a certain crime family, drifted in synchronized orbit around this lawless cesspool, far outside the perusal of the Deviluke Empire and the Galactic Police. Inside the station, which once belonged to one of the various organizations and mafia family's that had broken away from the collective safety of the Eden organization after its own dissolution, the facility had fallen into the Boss of Solgam's clutches. He currently was sitting at the head of a massive throne, situated at the center of a massive orbital dome that peered into the space beyond, wherein he leisurely spent his days monitoring his subordinates actions and increasing his own revenue stream. While organizing actions against his many various enemies, both external and internal, he enjoyed being serviced by the many women he had bought or brought from worlds he had plundered, or where given to him as a tribute for his protection. He was partaking in one of his rare vices, when a sudden creaking and slamming of his chamber doors announced the arrival of one of his subordinates.

"Boss!" a gruff looking man in a Solgam uniform, the one who had replaced Keize after his fall from favor, shouted while he was enjoying his afternoon glass of Elixian blue, circa 800, "We've gotten a.. request, from Earth." The man is huffing, having obviously rushed from wherever he was in the base to personally deliver the news, and he hastily tried to make up for his interruption by profusely bowing for forgiveness.

"Earth? Ah..." the Boss states, as he drudges up the memories of his formerly favored scientist, "Keize... what news does he have of us regarding the situation on that mud ball?" The other man takes that as his cue to speak, and raises his head to due so.

"Keize has reported a decrease in the viable timetable for the seizure of Earth; reports from an inside source correlates that the Galactic Police have accelerated their own timetable regarding their own standing against the planet..." the man begins, as he looks towards his boss, "He reports that the plan is ready for phase two, but requests y-your personal presence, Boss, at the completion of the phase, so as to turn it over to you, personally." The man ends his words there, and yet the Boss can't help but feel there is more to be said by this man.

"You seem to have doubts, Zaikas," the Boss states, as he points a finger towards the man with a gesture that causes him to falter in shock, "Tell me, do you have reservations about Keize's loyalty to me?" The man stiffens in response, and the Boss smiles as he hits the nail on the head. He decides to take it easy on this newly appointed advisor, knowing he didn't have the sense or capabilities he had as boss of this organization. "I wouldn't worry about Keize, he has already failed this family once; he already knows the consequence's of failing to meet my expectations a second time," the Boss can confidently state, before bringing a hand to his chin, realizing the other man looks nervous still, "Or perhaps, is it the Doctor that you lack faith in?" The Boss smiles devilishly at that, finding it amusing to see his underling squirm beneath his cautious exterior.

"You would be right to question such a... prickly fellow; such as he is," the Boss states, setting his hands across his lap while staring at Zaikas, "But the Doctor is indebted to us, to our cause; if he were not my ally, I wouldn't have rescued him from Deviluke's secret brain trust, and he fully understands that his situation is left entirely up to us." He crosses his fingers, giving a devious smile as he does so. "Zaikas... if the Doctor were to betray us, in any way, it would have been well before this operation," he continues, "Investing time, manpower, infiltration into government agencies bribes, the technology alone he has exclusively provided us... Solgam shall come out on top once we conquer Earth." Getting up from his throne, he walks towards Zaikas with purpose and a smile. "If it wasn't for the Doctor's work, both in genetics and technology, we would still be decades away from promoting any change," the Boss states, as he gently brushes his hand against Zaikas' neck while reaching around his shoulder, directing his gaze upwards to the stars outside the open viewing port, "Thanks to him, the lost weapons of Eden have walked straight into my hands, and the various ways I can use them to conquer the Deviluke Empire, no, the universe..."

He lets go of Zaikas, as he falls to the floor, grasping his throat while foaming at the mouth. "Unfortunately Zaikas, you will not live to see these accomplishments," the Boss states, leaning over as the fear in his eyes grows, rolling back as he falls to his side on the floor, "You really shouldn't interrupt me when I'm enjoying my vices... now, get someone to throw this trash out the airlock." Directing it to one of the many girls that had been servicing him, they quickly move to get a couple of guards that had been stationed outside the door.

"Boss Rudman!" another man states upon entering the room, as two other men take the body away, "Eh, ahh...what are your orders, Torneo-sama?" The Boss, formerly known as a low level gangster named Torneo Rudman, smiled at his subordinates question, staring down at the weasel-like, beak-nosed man, named Morris Flitt, that was easily one of his most loyal yes-men.

"Have the boys in the engine room get the fold core up and ready within the hour," Torneo states, as he returns to his wine and women, "We'll be warping to an insignificant mud ball that is just ripe for conquering; have the men ready for anything... oh, and Flitt..." The man seized up at his Boss' suddenly calling him out, the sheer terror a delight for his eyes as he drew it out a bit longer than necessary. "Congratulations on your promotion to my personal advisor," Torneo states while taking a fresh glass of wine from one of his handmaidens, closing his eyes as he sips its alien contents, then licking his lips as he opens them to focus on the shivering form of his new right hand, "...tell the boys to take Zaikas' failure and incompetence to heart, you wouldn't want to catch me in a bad mood again, or else you too could suffer a fate far worse than those who failed before you..." Flitt gulped at that, then nodded, hunched over and trembling as he left a pleased looking Torneo behind.

 _"_ Hahaha...hahahahaha...hahaha _...HAHAhaHAH!"_

* * *

 _Earth_  
 _Secret Solgam Facility_

"Good news," Keize reported to the Doctor, "The Boss is feeling _'generous';_ he only low key threatened us of his imminent arrival..." Keize looks up from the data pad he was looking at, to se the Doctor lazily at work, finalizing some secret project no doubt, as he spoke. "Apparently Zaikas upset him and was... ahem, removed, and replaced by Morris Flitt, who in my humble opinion, is a bit too much of an entitled as-" he paused, as the Doctor suddenly got up from his chair, leaving his documents open while passing by Keize with out a word, "Doctor? Are you needing help to finish preperations fro phase three of your plan?" He remains mute, though Keize catches up with him as he enters the elevator, the aloof scientist remains unsociable as ever. "Sr, is everything alright?" Keize asks with trepidation, as the Doctor opens a secret compartment that led to the lowest level, Processing, where Nemesis and other highly confidential materials were stored for, well, processing, "If Nemesis is giving you trouble, I'm sure I can dedicate some time to helping you in anyway possible- and if it is the Boss, I can always cancel-" The elevator descended quickly, then opened to the lower level, where it was barely lit due to saving on energy cost and drawing any untoward suspicion of the locals, whom they were renting the facility from, having modified it over half a year earlier, in secret.

"No- no, you don't have to cancel anything, Keize," the Doctor states quickly, as he steps off of the elevator, his glasses refusing to show his emotion in such a shaded area, but Keize steps off on that floor as well, to follow him to his next project, "But- you are right, I do require your help with something, Keize..."

The man was ill-equipped for his normal lab activity, forgoing his lab coat for the khaki's and sweater he wore underneath it. Keize followed him cautiously to the holding bay, where the multiple secret projects they were running beyond the scope of human eyes, were held. Among the many stored treasures they had begn to store were as followed: A fold generator for quick travel anywhere across the world, a seemingly nondescript black sword they found in an abandoned coastal village, once embedded in a bog, it had since been stored in a static field and hooked up to various monitoring systems that were designed to create a sensory feedback loop. Nemesis was currently chained down to a table, with cuffs that sent a static charge through her every so often, to destabilize her TRANS abilities, and keep her pumped full of heavy sedatives to keep her in a dreamless state until she could be made of use. The last, and very first project that Keize had begun work on, after the Doctor had informed him of his design and its purpose, was a simply pair of glowing vats connected to a much larger machine that was pumping various fluids, minerals, vitamins, protein chains, and other progressive materials into one of the vats, which held a suspended form within that would be ready within a few hours of accelerated growth, to meet the parameters he had been told.

"Is it... finally-" Keize asked the Doctor, swallowing saliva as his mouth suddenly became dry at the prospect that lay ahead for them now, "-is it time, Kousuke-sama?" With a smile, the Doctor turned to Keize with a twinkle in his eye, a first sign of unbridled emotion that he had personally seen on his master's face since he had rescued him from that prison over a year ago. "Sir, I can't say how-" the remaining words couldn't be found from Keize's mouth.

"I want to thank you, Keize, you were a loyal pawn to the end," the Doctor states, withdrawing the black sword from the man's stomach, before gently setting him down onto the floor, as blood began to stain the floor, "Your loyalty to Kanzaki Kousuke was unwavering, perhaps the greatest example of a blind faith I had ever seen in all my years, but your usefulness, as is Solgam, finally at its end." Letting the sword fall from his hand, he turns his attention to the computers overhead, which suddenly switched to satellite views, having been hacked and positioned from a host of abandoned pieces that had secretly been upgraded with superior stealth technology, from among a variety of space junk. On the channel it showed a Devilukean warship that Lala had brought with her, as he just smiled on watching, as Keize bled out onto the floor.

"My new Eve has been preparred for the great experiment, soon her new vessel shall be readied for use, and the conclusion of all of this will begin to fall into the predicted variance," the 'Doctor' states, as he smiles, "Unfortunately the loss of Rito Yuuki as a battery was unfortunate, thankfully we have Nemesis as a sufficient, albeit inferior, substitute; no matter, as soon as that rube Torneo enters this system at the coordinates you provided him, my decades long masquerade will finally payoff all my hard work and sacrifice." He turns to Keize for one final time, as the last gasps of the man begins to be snuffed out. "My mole informs me that the remaining preparations have already been completed on their side, and the encapsulation of the Earth will proceed as planned, regardless of Deviluke's interference," the man boasts, as the light in Keize's eyes begin to dim, making it harder for him to focus on the sights and his words, "Soon, this world will fall to Darkness, as all the others have... and then Hades will swallow this entire world, and finally the grand experiment will conclude!"

" ** _Kekeke_**..."

* * *

 _Yuuki Household_  
 _Meanwhile_

The mood was somber, as Lala wiped the steam from her bathroom mirror to take a good look at herself. Her eyes were puffy, red, and swollen, from the past few sleepless nights spent crying over her own failures, while staying holed up in her old workshop inside Rito's room. She had expected Mikan to cry, to scream, to yell insults towards her, yet the girl had been silent, her apathetic response all the more heartbreaking as if she was ignoring the fact that her brother had...

 _Rito wasn't coming home._

Reduced to a whimpering mess, yet again, Lala dropped to her knees on the floor, as fresh tears flowed from her lithe and dehydrated body. She had even kept Peke from comforting her, instead making sure that the little robot was keeping a watchful eye on a sullen Mikan, and entertaining Celine when she could. The devilukean princess had finally decided to move on, instead, focusing on figuring out where the man who had set off this chain of events was located. Lala hadn't spent the entire time a useless waste of space; some of the time, between waves of guilt and sorrow that dragged her down, she had spent countless hours lost in a maze of electronics and wires building such a device as one that could find the answer to her many questions.

' _He's hiding somewhere on this very world,_ ' Lala thought to herself, as the racing clock towards the judgment of Earth ticked on inside the background of her mind, now down to less than twenty four hours, ' _I have so very little time to find him, but when I do, I can make it so that Rito's sacr- it-it wasn't made in vain..._ ' She bites her tongue and cheek, as more tears threaten to spill out, and forces herself to finish getting ready, and face her greatest challenge.

Stepping out from her room, down from the teleport and descending the steps into the living room, she walks into the kitchen and takes a seat at the table. Food had already been set at the ready for her to eat, as well as her favorite dark matter condiment, which she began to devour greedily. Looking to Mikan, who was busy preparing lunches in the kitchen for everyone, Lala felt a twinge of loneliness, as she then glanced sideways to the empty plate that sat in front of the unused chair.

"How is she...?" Lala begins to ask in a hushed whisper, as she turns to her sisters and Peke, who was helping feed Celine, "The empty plate..." Momo shook her head, and Nana merely grumbled under her breath, until the clattering of a dish, shattering against the kitchen floor, could be heard.

"No...no..nonono **NO**!" Mikan suddenly began shouting, as she leaned over and began to pick up shards with her bare hands, cuts and blood beginning to form as she did so, which alarmed everyone at her sudden irrational behavior.

"Mikan!" Nana suddenly shouted out, as she rushed over to grab her by the wrist and keep her from pick up more of the shards and gathering them into her apron, "That's dangerous, it's just a drinking glass, we can always get another one!" The orange tinted glass was unusual, it stood out from among the rest of the many cups, and Lala immediately recognized it, and realized why Mikan was trying to pick it up in vain.

"Mikan..." Lala states, getting close to her and gently grabbing her open hands, turning them over to check for shards embedded in them, "Rito- Rito is gone, you know that right?" She says it more harshly than she wanted to, surprised at her own lack of tact, but the shock and betrayal in Mikan's eyes cut deeper than any shard of glass.

"You- I thought you of all people would have understood-" Mikan states, breaking free of Nana's grip, and pushing both of the princesses away, while stepping back, "-he isn't gone... not really, you should realize it too; or don't you love him?" Her words are biting, but erratic, they hurt yet Lala can't tell what the girl is trying to get across to her. "Can't you feel it, Lala, like a tug, a gentle pull amidst that sea of heartache?" Mikan asks, as her eyes meet Lala's, and the air between the two feels electric, "The world is crazy, yet my brother was a rock amongst waves of chaos, a beachhead of calmness in a pool of lust you all threatened to drown him in..." Mikan got into Lala's face, and though Nana was going to stop her, Momo pulled her back just as quickly, hoping to let the girl vent.

"You think he is gone, but he's still here, in that room, where I tried to go and wake him up, only to find an empty bed and remember that my brother is gone, that my last words to him weren't serious, that the chair he sat in will always be empty, that the women he chased after will never see him again," she rants, and raves, spitting and clenching her teeth as her crazed eyes haunt and sear themselves into Lala's memories, "That the daughter.. that Celine, who doesn't understand anything of what is going on, is going to be left wondering what happened; that my parents, absent as they are, aren't going to understand how their baby boy could die like that, sucked into a black hole, while his fiance is left to pick up the pieces of her own shattered love story!" The thumping in her heart is like a drumbeat, and those last words were a crescendo, a wave of truth that rose high above her head and threatened to come crashing down upon her own fragile barriers. A whistling of air, a slap, anticipating the stinging of flesh on her cheek, as tears came yet again, unbidden and uncontrolled, from her eyes.

Yet the one who was slapped was not Lala, and the surprise on Mikan's face was evident, as the hand of Ringo Yuuki retracted itself from her only daughter's red, burning cheek. Lala stumbled,and fell to the ground, unaware the elder Yuuki woman had even come into the room, let alone come home from wherever she had been in the world, just to slap her raging daughter. "Mommy?" Mikan meekly answered, after the shock had passed, as she was pulled into Ringo's embrace, "What are you doing...home?"

"A man named Rochefort told me what happened," the elder Yuuki stated, "Your father is to close to a deadline, so I haven't told him anything, yet, but I came rushing home on a red-eye just to comfort you...both of you; my daughters." Dragging Lala into the hug, she feels the shaking of Mikan, as the youngest daughter breaks out into tears, finally letting the wall break, as Lala felt the need arise as well, she too cried with her former sister-in-law and mother-in-law.

Ringo finished tucking an exhausted Mikan back into bed, her flushed face covered with a cooling rag and a petite Celine sleeping next to her as well. "She has a fever, nothing serious, but rest will do her good," Ringo states with a small smile, as she close the door to her daughters room, and turns to face Nana, Momo, and Lala, "She's probably overworked herself with worry, ever since she heard her brother was lost; she probably kept it all in, not believing it was true... but..." Ringo licks her dry lips, digging her hands into her shirt, she looks to Lala with as straight a face as she can make. "If... if you need me, I'll be here," she simply states, then heads to her own room, leaving the three sisters alone in the hallway.

This wasn't how she was expecting everyone to react, and the oddness of it all was causing Lala's brain to hurt. Expecting something more, Lala turns to go into Rito's room, when she was stopped by her two sisters.

"What do you think you are doing?" Nana asks, as Momo tightly squeezes the palm of her hand, "You just got out of there, don't think we're just going to let you..." With a simple twist of her arm and quick grasp of both her sisters exposed tails, Lala mercilessly holds on tightly to both of them, whole wrapping her own safely out of their reach.

"I'm close to finding him," she simply replies, the headache growing worse with every moment they stop her and keep her distracted, "I've almost finished the device, so let me go, and I promise you we can find him and stop all of this, before the G.P.D. decide to overstep while trying and be heroes." Momo gently lets go of her sister's hand, as does a concerned looking Nana, as she in turn lets go of their tails. Closing the door to Rito's room behind her, she turns to look into the mirror, and the ache in her head gets worse.

"Damn it!" she curses under her breath, putting one hand to her head to will the pain away, while raising another in a fist and striking it against the glass of the mirror, "Why... why is this happening now..." Looking up and into her own reflection, she feels her heart skip a beat, startled as she stares into her familiar, with unfamiliar, maroon eyes.

Blinking, her eyes are the right color again, and she takes it as a sign that whatever hallucination she had has passed. "Well," she said to herself, looking at her reflection, "That is new..."

* * *

 _Galactic Police Headquarters_  
 _Milky Way Division_  
 ** _REDACTED STAR SYSTEM_**

The Galactic Police Headquarters was a well hidden location among the many so-called uncharted expanses between arms of the Milky Way. Stars were few and far between, but the isolation from traffic and other worlds made security in the system infinitely more manageable with high grade security satellites and scanners set to detect over a hundred thousand lethal forms of contraband, from over a million planets. It was here that the Galactic Union, a police protectorate that spanned the five known galaxies and beyond, stationed there presence to enforce laws across the entire milky way, free of Gid Lucieon Deviluke's interference. Fortunately on this day the self-proclaimed King had been granted rights, as he was due, to assemble the Union Council, and discover their plans for the Earth.

Large wooden doors opened into the council's chambers, and in walked Gid Lucieon Deviluke, flanked both by his right hand, Zastin, and his wife, the Diplomat Sephie Michela Deviluke. Zastin had recovered more fully since his injuries, and the wife of the King of Deviluke had been personally requested by her own husband, to ensure the council's own safety, in case his temperament got the better of him during his inquiry. Clad in regal garb of a regent of Deviluke, gleaming armor shone beneath his fearsome black cape, as he stared down the three hundred seventy five various local delegates,then into the cameras, were thousands more watched the proceedings from the safety of their own home star systems. The King made his way to the center of the court, where the prospective inquirers would have the floor, be allowed to voice their concerns, and in turn allow answers and questions from the various delegates of the room surrounding the floor.

"Hear this... now hear this," the main prosecutor, a man not to unlike a human, save his pointed ears, stood at attention, announcing his presence as the Speaker, "This emergency meeting of the Galactic Union Council, has been declared in response to the request of the his grand majesty, the first supreme, emperor-warlord coveting five galaxies... Gid Lucieon Deviluke." With a flourish of his hand, the Speaker directed attention to the Devilukean man and his Charmian bride.

The king took his time to stand, his regal presence imposing and frightening more than a few, as he let his power speak for itself, before reigning it back in as the room fell into a hush at his stance. "I have come before this assembled audience, in behalf of my daughter, the future queen of Deviluke Lala Satalin Deviluke, and her human husband, Rito Yuuki," the king begins to speak, calmly, "I have heard of this councils threats, its bluffs, its blustering, and have noticed the rise in crime across the universe, in direct defiance of your own Galactic Police Departments best efforts..." His golden eyes stare into many eyes, as they rove across the room. "I have come today to inform you that the situation on Earth, no, across the universe, has grown beyond your expectations, and my own," the king calmly announces, closing his eyes for half a moment, letting the room stir up in a flurry of whispers and hushed tones, before his stare once again quiets the entirety of the storm of questions, "Be at ease, for my daughter is at work at this very moment tracking down the elusive backer of the criminal organization, Solgam, as it becomes ever clearer tat the rise of organized crime has come about as the result of new growth attempting to blossom from the rotted out tree stump I had left behind..." The flurry of sound that followed was a surprise, but it was cut off by the words that next came from Gid's lovely wife.

"Be at ease, my friends, my colleagues..." Sephie's calming words dripped out of her mouth like sweet honey, calming the growing roar, as all eyes are bewitched by her siren spell, making her the focus of the floor, "Our daughters, her friends, have learned of a conspiracy that started at the very heart of our oldest, most trusted institution; the Devil's Heart has been compromised, it and all within has withdrawn from our Union, after revealing itself to have sided with those that would seek to bring harm to us all..." The words of the most beautiful woman in the galaxy was thick, and hard to swallow, but her worried tone and the frown that marred her beautiful features was in itself, a sinful admission to that truth. "Our daughter, and her husband, were attacked and left to escape from the Devil's Heart, after attempting to only claim what will rightfully be theirs by marriage; the fortune of Deviluke, the wealth of this galaxy, was denied them by those who deemed a single human child, a threat to this universe," the words Sephie spoke seemed to shock them out of their daze, as the many members of the council began to converse between each other, as she continued on, "Unfortunately, the location of my future son-in-law is as of yet undetermined, but his last act was to ensure the safe return of our daughter, along with the simple request that his planet, the planet Earth, be spared the savage fate this council has set out to inflict upon a primitive, uneducated world that has barely taken its first steps into the stars..."

"What are the lives of a few billion on a...as you so call it, primitive planet, in comparison to the lives of the vast trillions of your subjects, spread across a million worlds?" the Speaker asks the Charmian Queen, shaking his head derisively as if her words had no effect, "If it means removing a madman who could create a weapon capable of cleaving worlds, anything is worth the cost; so, I am sorry if we have given you the impression that you had a say in this decision, my liege." The man spoke without a trace of emotion showing on his face, yet the belittlement and sarcasm in his tone of voice directed at Sephie's calming words, were enough to cause Gid's anger to boil over.

"No, I am sorry, that I ever gave you all the choice to continue on with this farce of a police force," Gid states in sharp retort, eyes practically brimming with disdain, focused onto the man before him, "I have stayed out of your way after I conquered your worlds, and let you govern a unified security agency that clearly isn't doing its job." The ball is rolling now, and Gid stares across the faces of the hundreds of diplomats, whose lives he had spared across countless worlds, either indirectly or personally. "I was not harsh, nor cruel in my subjection; I never asked for more than I would have expected from my own people, and I have done nothing more than bring the worst of the chaos spread across these galaxies to heel." If there was one thing he felt, more so than any other emotion like anger, betrayal, or his overbearing pride, it was a simmering disappointment that had been stewing every since he had enacted the grandiose work of uniting the known universe. "A single man has you running from the fight, a simple world has you desperate enough to sweep everything I had ever worked towards, under the figurative rug," he hung his head, for the briefest of moments, which stunned the assembled crowd more so than any words could have. Unfortunately the words fell on deaf ears, as the Speaker simply slammed his own fists in anger on his own table.

"A simple world... one man?" the Speaker scoffs, his voice rising with heated passion, an anger that Gid recognized with all-too-familiarity, "The Doctor was the chief agent, no the mastermind, behind Eden, behind the massacre of the moons of Zeted, the shallow, mass graves of the genocide at Sincorine, not to mention horrifying genetic experimentation in the waning days of the war; monster men that took our forms and blew up in suicidal attacks, before the creation of the TRANS weapon, Golden Darkness, and all that spawned from Her!" His words incite murmurs in the crowd, and even Gid looks over to a surprised Sephie, who had worked with many of the speakers and diplomats before; never had she encountered the fervor of this man before. "That world, _Earth_ , is no better than He is!" the Speaker states, looking up to Gid, then to the assembled crowd, "A world where the splitting of an atom was accomplished before the option of worldwide peace was discussed; should this world advanced further, as it already has in the shortest amount of time, it could one day usurp any other world among this assembled union, even Deviluke itself." The murmurs grow, and Gid even feels the passion has begun to froth and foam over into the territory of zealous rage. "By sealing this world away, we will prevent such a dangerous world from growing to become the next Deviluke; keep its needless chaos and threat of violence from ever reaching the stars, snuff it out and smother its will, and let them all die!" the words hit home for most, and it is here that the slap of an insult actually begins to cause Gid another twitch of his brow, "This world has been given its chance, this Union will not alter their decision..."

A screeching halt, a figure stands sharply from their seat and walks swiftly and with purpose, slapping the fervent man across his cheek before turning to the whole assembly. "Gaama stands with Deviluke, with Earth," the female diplomat, the youngest sister of Lacospo, whom had since apologized for his actions and began to repent for them, "This is not proper cause, this is not all fact; this is injustice..." The Gaama born amphibian replaces her water filter to her mouth, taking a breath of the vital liquid water, before continuing to address the union council. "Earth is home to many, runaways, refugees, alien, and human alike; kinship we should feel, a world at war, and all its consequences, is not foreign to us all, is it?" the woman states, as murmurs grow, and the Speaker looks shocked, "A civilization so young deserves its chance to stand among us all; this one man, does he speak for this assembly?"

In the history of this Union no one had ever heard or made such a passionate speech, nor had it ever been recorded since, that on that day the belief in one small world could overturn Union ideals so strongly.

"Memorze stands with Deviluke, with Gaama, with Earth!" the representative of Memorze speaks up, as the King and Queen both stand to join the young amphibian, "Our children have told us stories of that verdant, green planet, and the wonders it has brought them." Murmurs rise yet again, as others begin to stand and join them.

"The human male, had he not proven his worth in honorable combat?"

"Yes, wasn't he the one that stopped that broke the mythical Bladix into pieces, and that he controls one of the Taoist Pearls?"

"Taoist? Doesn't that mean he is descended from one of the revered masters, or that they at least recognize his worth as heir?"

Rumors grow, boasts as tall as mountains, but the flood of feeling has swept across the room, as the amazement grows, much to the surprise of the elf-eared man that was forced to stay stunned on the floor, as the world around him flipped on its head. "The Talhain Shadow Chapter offers its support to one who is heir of the power Tao," another voice states, as the Speaker spins, craning his neck to listen to the new arrivals. Out of the darkness and the shadows that those whom were among the more light-sensitive races took their places, a single androgynous person with a reflective helmet that obscures them in their entirety, states. "Hail Gid Lucieon Deviluke, Queen Sephie, Princess Lala Satalin Deviluke," the voice states, as it kneels, before slowly taking off its helmet, to reveal bandaged frame, that is gently unraveled to reveal maroon eyes and deeply tanned skin beneath it, "The Triumvirate pledges its full support; the Voice has been cut off at the behest of orders that were required to cleanse our body of its corrupting, but the Eyes still see and the Ears hear all... so reveal yourself, deceiver!" The boy points to the speaker, whom is wide eyed and stressed, eyes bulging with red veins as the overwhelming force of the eyes of all the room come crashing down onto him.

" _Kekekeke- **kuh**_..."

"- _even_ if the Princess' of Deviluke could find and stop him; the process has already begun, no one can stop the ancient sphere from completing its task now," the Speaker suddenly states with mad glee, as he looks up to the group, centering on Gid, "I had been authorized to carry out its implementation, with the ok of the one who sits as the highest authority upon the Earth, the last, the true, Taoist... Rochefort-sama!" His eyes smile, as the dawning of his meaning hit Gid like a punch to the gut.

"The Silverfish?"the King of Deviluke states, as he calls for his personal guards to take the man into custody, and get this all sorted out, "That means that that organization works for..." King Gid stands amidst the growing chaos, drawing the attention to himself as he shouts his next words. "Silence!" the King commands, as all eyes draw to him, "Ready what ships you can, head for Earth; Solgam is merely a pawn, they're true goal is-" He suddenly seizes, putting a hand to the base of his neck, as if something sharp had just cut into him.

 **/Now, now, no need to go and ruin the surprise/**

 **/Just relax, my King, and let it all play out.../**

Biting his tongue, the last conscious thought Gid had, was meeting eyes with the Talhain Seer, Shiki, and burning his smug, smiling face into his memory.

 **/My master isn't finished with his work...not just yet/**

* * *

 _Meanwhile,_  
 _Earth_

Lala is bleary eyed as she finishes her work on the device she had been working on for the past two days, ever since returning to Earth. She had a little under six hours to hunt down the man who was currently the most wanted person in the universe, before the G.P.D. brought down what was essentially a galactic prison down upon the earth, trapping all of humanity in what could be an eternal darkness. The Dyson Sphere was essentially a conceptual device meant to surround a sun and maximize energy processing by utilizing all energy expelled from the star, such as light and heat, and allow it to be processed and collected for use by the civilization that developed it. Except a Dyson Sphere worked best in uninhabited star systems, where local life was preferably nonexistent, so as not to upset a delicate balance and smother potential civilizations before they could reach for the stars. And the Galactic Police had decided to misuse this device for their own purposes and gain, all because they could not contain the threat of one man in the midst of a single planet; preferring to let a civilization die in the dark, then ever reach their full potential.

From what her father had informed her of before he was scheduled to go before the Union Council, after unsuccessfully trying to appeal to the head of the organization privately within the past six months of given time, the decision had gone out of their hands the moment the orders had been inputted into the machine. She understood that due to the fact that the ancient star coffin's original creators had died off long before even the first great galactic war, not much was understood about the machine beyond what it was supposed to do. The machines inputs were simple enough, she inferred from that the device was only meant to be used once, but as its creators had died out because of the very energy crisis that had necessitated such construction of this machine, a way to stop it or divert it was impossible without a deeper understanding of which no living being had.

Lala knew that their unabashed regard towards the device went deeper than what they said. Despite staying out of the galactic politics of it all, knowing that this planet was unaffiliated, yet contained a variety of rogue alien refugees, agents, and secrets, the loss of the planet was minimal to what was gained. The planet Earth would be sealed eternally in a device that could have swallowed their sun easily; the starlight would last the longest on its night side, as the sunlight would quickly disperse after a mere eight minutes, but only barely, as the final sunrise and sunset occurred across the planet simultaneously, the Earth would be forever be trapped. Fortunately, the planet's warmth would last longer than the sunlight would, the device would still warmed by the unseen star, and the radiation it would still be bathing it would allow heat to filter through, so as to not let its people freeze to death; a fate far worse than just being plunged into the dark, but one less true concern to worry about.

"Done..." she stated to herself, standing up to wipe the sweat from her brow and to step back and admire her newest invention, "A tracking device, capable of hunting you down from a galaxy away..." A sleek, silver tablet-like device was sitting on the table she had once worked on many a device before, hidden in Rito's closet still. "All I have to do is get a genetic sample, and test it out," she mutters to herself, as her tired eyes cause her to wobble from exhaustion, having stayed up half the night. Her eyes wander around the room and land on a long forgotten box of stuff she kept here when she moved to her new room, eyeing a certain item with in it. Walking over to the box of stuff, she picks up the plush rabbit, bringing it up to her face, she breathes in the smell of him from that day. "Just once..." she states, taking the plush with her, and to set it over the scanner she had put into it. Her heart isn't ready, and she falters, sliding the plush behind the tablet, and gripping the table, hard. "I- I can't, not until I test it on... something I'm sure of..." she states to herself, tears threatening to overwhelm her in her tired state. She rummages through a variety of items she had grabbed from the kitchen, when Mikan wasn't looking, and grabbed a fork she knew was an item one of her sisters had used to eat breakfast.

Placing it on the scanner, she brought up the scanner interface and let the device isolate the latent genetic material on it.

 ** _Scanning..._**

It flashed its actions across the screen, as a grid pattern isolated the specific dna strands of a Charmian hybrid, and began identify it, with Lala physically inputting a classification to give it Momo's name.

 _ **Locating_Subject:Momo...**_  
 _ **Searching...**_  
 _ **Searching...**_

 _ **Subject:found**_

At those words, the grid became a map, which then began to focus into a spot around the Yuuki house, until it showcased a red dot signifying Momo, near the front of the house, most likely in the living room. "A success!" Lala states, smiling a bit as her tiredness starts to catch up with her, but necessity driving her to continue on, "...but I need another test, to ensure it works..." Pulling out a sealed container with a biohazard symbol on it, sent to her from her father's secret prison complex, containing the single remaining sample taken from the Doctor during his incarceration. Opening the container, a burst of cold air from the stasis lock as the seal breaks, Lala removes a tuft of blood encrusted hair and puts it on a sterile, glass slide that she then places that onto the scanner and lets it do its work.

 _ **Scanning...**_

Not as quick as when it found Momo, the device seemed to have difficulties trying to distinguish some difficult strands, but when it was finally finished, it seemed two separate, unidentifiable genetic patterns emerged from the resulting dissection of the sample. Choosing the first one, the most recent, it seemed, Lala waited for it to locate the source.

 _ **Scanning...**_  
 _ **Scanning...**_

 _ **Subject:found**_

The information that scrolled across her screen was a location on Earth, than another, and then yet another one. She scowled as it bounced around a few times, from Australia to Spain, like it was set in a randomized pattern. "He blocked my scans..." Lala mutters to herself, as she tinkers a bit with the device, trying to strengthen it by connecting it to a more powerful transceiver, "Let's try..." Grabbing one of her other inventions, she adds its parts to the small machine, and manages to get a better grip on the location as the range was shortened to a smaller frame of reference.

This time, bouncing between three spots, the signal could get a better reading of the genetic scan.

 ** _Subject 01, 57.69% match/57.69% match/57.69% match_**  
 ** _Location:Azores/Bermuda/Canary Islands, 33.33% certainty_**

Creasing her brow at that, she was a bit more confused than she had right to be, but sighed in resignation anyway knowing that whatever he was using to cover his tracks was definitely alien in origin. Deciding to give up, choosing instead to send the locations to U.L.T.R.A. for processing as potential leads, she turns her attention to the strange, second profile she had gotten back. Returning to the genetic profiles, she chose the second profile, and let the machine do its job and track the owner of said material down.

 ** _Scanning..._**  
 ** _Scanning..._**  
 ** _Error..._**  
 ** _Recalculating..._**

 ** _Subject:found_**  
 ** _Matches Found:2_**

Raising her eyebrow at that, she isolated the information and brought its contents to the forefront. Both matches were titled Subect with a corresponding number, as they appeared to be identical, though upon closer inspection, it appeared that one seemed to be closer to the genetic profile extracted than the other.

 _ **Subject 02, Deceased; Match: 99.57%**_  
 _ **Subject 03, Alive; Match: 94.22%**_  
 _ **Location:Earth/Talha Galaxy**_

Another error flashed across her screen, and she swore as she realized too late that she should have isolated both profiles immediately. With a crackle and hiss, the resulting smoke that began to be emitted from the hastily made amplifier only served to reminder her that this hastily made item wasn't her best work, and cursed as the screen cracked from a sudden surge from feedback.

 _ **Conflicting information found...**_  
 _ **Terminating search...**_

 _ **Input new parameters_**_

She sighed, as the first set of information was purged from her device, as the machine flashed off, then back on, signaling a reboot and the loss of the second set of data. Not really wanting to stress her machine out anymore than it was, and not wanting to catch her precious memories on fire, she quickly unplugged the amplifier, knocking the rabbit forward onto the broken screen as she does so, and takes the item away for safe disposal, before it blew up in her lab and caused anymore danger. A spark of electricity, crackling red jolts that peaked from melted wiring casing, and the rebooted machine bugged out, and began to scan the fallen toy.

 _ **New parameters inputted...**_  
 _ **Searching...**_  
 _ **Subject:found**_  
 _ **99.07% positive match**_  
 _ **Location:E-erro%$#^ &*# _**_

With a final puff of smoke, the red spark sputters and dies out, as the last, unfinished results go unrecorded.

* * *

 _ULTRA HQ_  
 _Sainan Division_

"Thanks to Lala's suggestions, we've found out that UNESCO has recently become affiliated with an eco-friendly scientific organization based out of the Canary Islands, one of three suspiciously identical facilities we're investigating; we figure that they are shell corporations that have popped up, along with similar ones in both the Azores, and the island of Bermuda," the silver suited young woman, Otome Tsuzuki, states, as she regards the assembled group of aliens and humans in front of her, looking towards Lala, "Each take names inspired from the Spanish language, and each essentially mean the same thing: scorched earth, and clean, or clear, waters." Three separate facilities are shown on the screen. " Instalação de pesquisa ambiental de águas claras," she states, before swapping to the next, " Facilidade de pesquisa ambiental das águas ardentes, and finally Casamento do Sol ardente e da Água Limpa." Lala, Nana, Momo, Mikado, and Rochefort all sit around the table, as the part time patisserie owner continues to explain the gathered information to the assembled group.

"Obviously, we don't know which of the three facilities Solgam is actually operating from, the Doctor could be at any one of these facilities..." the Director states, as the younger agent gives the floor to him, "Due to the highly dangerous nature of these facilities, and what they may contain, I'm planning on sending each of the three Deviluke princess' to separate teams." The three nod, as Rochefort brings up a list of names he had divided as easily as he could. "Nana, you will take a strike force against the Clear Water's Environmental Research Facility, Momo will take point leading a team against the Burning Waters Research Facility," the Director commands, before turning to Lala, "I will escort Lala, and we both will assault the joint research facility off the Azores; maybe if we strike all three, we can figure out the Doctor's devious plans for the Earth!"

"But how are we planning on getting there?" Nana asked, her facial expression radiating confusion and disbelief, "I think if we used Lala Nee's teleport system in orbit, wouldn't that set off their warning bells?" The others murmured, until the Director spoke up.

"We have a shielded facility in Bermuda we can safely transport too, then it's just a matter of borrowing a stealth submersible that can get you there in plenty of time," he states, "As the Canary Isles and the Azores are close enough to our London branch, we can take a pair of speedboats to them, as well." With that matter settled, the three teams broke off to begin their preparations-

* * *

"And then you went, found which facility he was in, and then you beat him, right; so were is uncle Rito during all this?" Uwe states, crossing her arms underneath her chin to prop up her head, "Momma told me that the real exciting stuff was actually happening in space, on the moon!" Ichigo's head popped up from under her covers at the mention of the lunar body, as Lala sighed at her daughter's will to listen to her story.

"Alright, alright, yes, stuff was happening in space that we weren't aware of, at the time, but eventually we figured it out," Lala states, "Let me explain what happened with the islands, then I'll tell you about the moon..." The older teen nodded, as did her daughter, who smiled brightly as she let her mother continue on with her story. "As I was saying..."

* * *

 _Bermuda_  
 _Clear Water Environmental Research Facility_  
 _2 Hours Later_

"I can't say there is anything interesting in here," Nana reports, putting up a hand to an earpiece, "I've taken the tour and searched everywhere, but this place is pretty much open to the public, and is fairly transparent here..." She smiles as tourists go around her, pretending to be looking at the public displays while holding her D-Dial as an excuse, until she turns a blind corner and takes a deep breath. "I think Bermuda is a bust," Nana reaffirms, "How are things going for you, Momo?"

* * *

 _Azores_  
 _Burning Waters Environmental Research_

"Not too much to report as well," Momo replies, also acting like she was talking into her D-Dial, "Not much of the Burning Waters facility is public, but the work they do is pretty well known around these parts; mainly dealing with ways of breaking down the North Atlantic Garbage patch, and measuring the Sargasso Sea's marine ecology." She activates a scanner on her D-Dial, and waits for the results. "Pretty much your usual classified research facility, maybe a few off the books projects, an embezzlement or two I'm pretty sure, but the layout is pretty basic, beyond a single submersible port for drones and submarines they use on the sea floor," Momo continues, "Quite interesting if you ask me, but- hold on, I'm picking up something attached to the weather satellite on the roof..." Looking up, she can barely make the device out from her location, but scans it just to be sure, with her D-Dial. "Hmm- If I am reading this right, it appears their satellite has an unregulated addition on it's base..." sighing, Momo's voice steadies, "False alarm, it appears to be a simple radio transmitter- though from the signal it seems to be outputting, I wouldn't doubt that it is what was blocking Onee-Sama's tracer." Putting her D-Dial into her pocket, along with her hands, Momo makes for the exit.

"It seems the Azores are a bust as well," Momo states, as she leaves through the public entrance, "Have you managed to get a hold of Nee-Sama?" There was static on the other end as she tried to establish a connection with her D-Dial. "Nana, something's wrong... we need to meet up with Onee-sama," she said to her older sister, as her mind wandered to the loss of Rito, and the brash actions she may just take, given the option, 'Please be safe...'

* * *

 _Canary Islands_  
 _Burning Sun and Clean Waters_

"Momo...Nana?" Lala tried calling out through her ULTRA issue-earpiece, holding her D-Dial in her hand, to make it seem like it was bluetooth, "Mister Rochefort, I think something is wrong-"

 _ **Intruder Alert**_  
 _ **Intruder Alert**_

 _ **Alien presence detected**_

 _ **Intruder Alert**_  
 _ **Intruder Alert**_

 _ **Initiating lock down procedure**_

The power suddenly cut out, and in response the facilities emergency systems suddenly shuttered the windows, dragging heavy metal doors downwards before anyone could stop them. Steel or titanium, they were probably hurricane grade defense shielding, that blocked out the light with a pneumatic hiss, as red emergency lighting lit up the suddenly dark room.

"Well, that's a bit disconcerting," Lala stated, looking back to see the people inside of the room all suddenly turn towards herself and the Director, "Sir... I think these aren't-" Her eyes go wide, as she turns back to the Director, to see him slumped in his spot, standing there despite the fact everyone was slowly walking forward towards them. Their whispers and murmurs began to increase, both in loudness and intensity, until it sounded like the buzzing of a thousand insects, causing her to shrink into herself, as she tried to drown out the painful sound with her hands, forced to her knees. The director, meanwhile, makes no move, and even the not-people walk around him. When his eyes finally turn up to meet hers, she watches in fascination as an inner eyelid covers his striking maroon irises, turning them a milky white that almost seemed inhuman. With a rise of his hands, he sweeps an arm to the side, and it was then that Lala realized that the Director hadn't joined her by chance.

"Our Master seeks to keep her alive," the Director states to the others, who stop and quiet their buzzing to a lower volume in response to his voice, "Your Creator has yet to return, so our Master's commands are absolute...He decrees that you take her to the Shadow Vault." He directs a few to grab her, stopping in front of her as their strong grips incapacitate her movement and keep her from struggling. "I'm truly sorry, my dear," the director states, his inner eyelid retracting to reveal the slightest bit of emotion in them, "I wished to have spared you the inevitable pain..." With that, he turns to the others and leads them to an elevator door that went down.

* * *

Dragged out of the elevator, following the lead of Rochefort, the alien princess finds herself taken through sterile, cold, and dark metal halls lit only by the emergency lighting that signified the facility was still cut off from the power grid. Or at least she thought that, until the doors he opened were shining light from beyond them. Lala blinked, eyes adjusting to the sudden change in lighting, as she realized the place around her was something that shouldn't be possible. A green, grassy knoll, with a strange clearing at the center of it all, full of towering crystals that seemed to be buried into the ground.

"Do you like it?" Rochefort states, noting her awe at the hilltop scene before her, as he stops in front of a black obelisk that stands alone at the middle of the cluster of crystals, "A holographic recreation of my Master's home; we've managed to recreate it, piece by piece, in order to complete the Grand Plan..." As the man stepped away from the black obelisk, he tapped a certain stone, and the stone liquefied and took a new shape, one more similar to an open coffin. "Place her in the chamber, then secure it; the Master wants her hooked up to the tesseract as soon as possible," he commands. The humanoid insects shove her into the machine, restraining her hands and feet with belts and straps that feel like cold metal, as she struggles to break free. "Don't worry, it will be over soon," he promises, as he taps another facet of the obsidian coffin, and it begins to slide, uncomfortably, over her body, until it leaves only her face exposed in a simple round window, "Too tight?"

" _Aehem-_ "

Without another glance, he steps to the side, as another body walks into view. She recognized without much difficulty, his pallor skin, dark hair, and stark white doctor's coat, framing that obnoxiously all-important, insufferable, black turtleneck and khakis. Kirisaki Kanzaki frowns as he looks over Lala, then gently shifts to a smile as he turns to the director.

"Good work, Belze; you managed to do more for me than that insipid, fool Kranz Marduke, or his lackeys, simpering Number III and bull-headed Number VIII," the 'Doctor' states, as he turns back to Lala, "I am glad that you had survived my trap, princess, though it appears your human lover wasn't fortunate enough... was he?" Lala struggles to break free, as he simply laughs off her vain attempts. "I wouldn't bother, my dear, down here those adamantium bonds are stronger than steel; it was fortunate most of Earth's rarer metals were still buried in the crust where I left them, otherwise the cosmic radiation would have broken them down faster," he states, as if he was making any sense to the girl, "Oh, right, you wouldn't know, since I hadn't programmed that in..." Grumbling and muttering to himself for a half a second, a new wicked smile crossed his face, as he turned to the man, Belze, and the two non-human look-a-likes . "Belze, if you would be so kind as to kill one of those clones for me," he states, as Belze takes out his weapon, the spear she had seen him use to impale the infiltrator with, and impale one of the clones, who didn't resist, "Good, good...now, watch." Pulling something from one of his pockets, he had Belze set the carcass on the grass and placed a slip of dark metal into the wound.

Lala watched in horror as the body began to bulge and boil, veins turning black as something spread and crawled its way underneath the skin, until the dermis began to break apart like bursting volcanoes of blood and pus. From the open wounds, jagged shards of red, gleaming metal poked out of the carcass, but the worse was yet to come. As if it wasn't disturbing enough, a hissing was heard, and Lala realized that the metal began to steam, leaking out a familiar black substance that seemed to boil away in the open air. Just enough of it coagulated together, enough that made her want to puke as she watched it form, a ghoulish imitation of a distorted human face, the hissing sounding more like screaming as a mouth and void-like gaps in the substance, gave the illusion of life leaving the body. As twisted as the Doctor was, she had never seen such a wicked substance in all her life, and the fact that it appeared to naturally leak dark matter was disconcerting.

"I'm sure you've heard of adamantinum, correct? Well, this is it's purest form-" the Doctor states, as he looks over his creation with fascination, pushing gently against the tallest spire, until the jagged metal seems to crumble at his touch into metallic, black sand, "Unfortunately it loses cohesion with most forms of radiation higher than ultraviolet, but enough energy remains inside it to form it into the metal you call orichalcum; an imperfect alloy formed from a decayed metal." Shaking his head, the Doctor looks up into his artificial sky, as if noting something for the first time. "It seems like I will have to explain my reasoning for your imprisonment another time, my dear," he states suddenly, as he turns to leave, "I would have loved to have gotten the other aberration instead of yourself, but understanding your deviation will allow me to better control the outcome; prepare her for the cloning tank, her genetic material will help stabilize the base pair deviations..."

With that he was gone, and Lala was left wondering what was going to happen next. Before she could do anything, Belze Rochefort was staring down at her. "Don't worry," he states simply, "You won't have to think anymore..." Before she can object, he has closed off the hole with the push of another button, plunging her into the infinite dark that quickly deprived her of all senses.

* * *

 _Lunar Orbit_  
 _Edge of the far side of the Moon_  
 _Lala's flagship._

"Smutts, what are you doing here?" a Devilukean officer asked, as one of the personal guards for the Princess' strolled onto the bridge of the ship, "I was informed that you would be staying planet side with the Princesses." The well dressed officer nodded, before taking his place next to the Captain.

"I had trouble getting in contact with the King and Zastin on Deviluke; Lala graciously let me come aboard to get it all sorted out, since we can tie into the subspace buoy comm system," the doctor answered, smiling as she then turned to go back out of the door, "I wanted to personally let you know what I was going to do, so you didn't have me shot me on sight, or anything like that!" A chuckle from the Devilukean officer, and then Smutts was at the communications station, allowing the captain to return his attention to the peaceful view of the planet below them. That was then shattered by the red blaring lights and sounds of klaxons going off, as the ships perimeter detection field sensed something approaching the ships coordinates.

"Helm, security station, what's happening out there?" the officer asked, "Mikado's shuttle should have long cleared our perimeter field by now, and there shouldn't be any stellar debris large enough out here to trigger the alert, so what's causing that blasted racket?"

"Sir, a massive warp-fold signature has been detected entering into lunar orbit," the helmsman stated, "the gravity shift at the gateway's end point, it tripped our subspatial buoy system."

"Well then, can we tell what kind of ship it is?" the Captain asked in a fury, "Nothing should be setting off our sensors like this, unless that thing is a small moon-" Illuminating the pitch-black void, a gateway wrote itself across the sky like a piece of art, until it began to unfold from the warp gate and gains back its third dimension.

"That's no moon..."

The item emerging from the yawning light was something that could have been mistaken for a very small moon, if it was jury rigged with a warp-fold gate; technology which was normally illegal in five different galaxies, if put onto anything but a space ship. As it gained more shape, the form of some magnificent building was just sitting there in the void, suspended upon gleaming metal spires that comprised the engine that had no doubt split the fabric of space and time to bring it there.. The castle in the void then turned on it's axis, righting itself over surface of the moon, before settling to a standstill and not moving.

* * *

"Morris, will you tell me what that-" referring to the ship that had appeared inside their viewing screen, suspended on the far side of the stark-white moon of the planet they were invading, "-thing is, and what it is doing in orbit of this insignificant planet?" The Boss chewed at his thumbnail at the addition of this new, unknown factor. As far as he was aware, this planet had little contact with anything larger than a few smugglers ships and people fleeing Deviluke's campaign of conquest. The sniveling form of his new right hand then bows, having found the information he sought on the vessel.

"Our sensors indicate it to be a _Lum_ -Class battleship, apparently of ancient Devilukean design, though it appears to have possibly been upgraded with a _Dyno_ -class' engine, which is the same type of craft as used by the Devilukean King's personal flagship," he reports, as he brings up the schematics of the ship, handing them off to his Boss with an uncharacteristically smug smile, "This particular class was originally a trench warfare battleship, but scans reveal most of its more powerful weapons have been disarmed, however much of its leftover defensive weaponry is primitive compared to current standards; per the signing of the Galactic Peace Accords and its Treatise regarding restrictions on many of the Devilukean Navy's military power, this ship is vastly outgunned by our own firepower."

The Boss strokes his chin, taking the information in, before folding his hands together in front of his face, to hide the wolfish smile he was showing behind it.

"Very well, Doctor, thinking you could get me to tip my hand and scare me off," he states, chuckling as he then looks to his second in command, "Position the ships firing arc towards the most critical systems on that ancient piece of garbage, then get in contact with the Doctor on Earth; we'll show him that we were not ill-prepared for his little games..." Torneo Rudman sat back, lounging in his throne while awaiting for a response from the surface.

It came all too soon, as the mousy face of the Doctor appeared shortly thereafter on his screen.

"Ah, Torneo, I was wondering when you would be contacting me," the Doctor states, smiling as he hands something off to one of his lackeys in the lab, having moved to a more comfortable area to converse with his Boss, "I just learned that princess Lala Satalin Deviluke had returned with a minor skirmish force in tow, and was just about to alert you of its presence... before you arived, of course." Smiling up at the cross face of the mob boss, the displeased gangster instead decided to not believe one word of this smooth devil's lies.

"I call bull, Kanzaki, you promised me the earth would be ready for conquest, but you have delivered jack-" the muffled curses went unheard, as the Doctor signaled slightly for them to mute his rage-filled tantrum, before resuming it in mid-froth, "-pompous, over arrogant prick!" The Doctor sighed at that, before taking off his glasses and rubbing his brow in annoyance, before the mobster begins attacking him again.. "And you dare claim that that- ship, is harmless?" Torneo exclaims with heavy sarcasm, as the ship splits the screen to be shown opposite to the Boss of Solgam, "Well, here's what I think of your little trick, Kousuke- fire at will!" Eyes going wide at that phrasing, he half expected the senile, old man to attack his facility, despite how deep underground it was.

"I don't understand it sir, but that satellite, it must still be messing with our systems," a young officer at the helm of the ship stated, "That thing is here, but the gravitational shift isn't something that could be putting out-"

* * *

"Sir, the unknown target has moved it's position, it seems to be prepping to attack us!" someone stated on the bridge, directed towards the Captain, "What should we do, sir?"

The Captain regarded the ship and his crew, an older vessel the King had stored away for a rainy day, having sacrificed its weapons in exchange for peace at the time, now left defenseless in face of an enemy whom had only moved forward in their path. "All hands, abandon ship, I repeat, all hands abandon ship," the Captain orders, before turning to Smutts, whom had remained on the bridge as all of this unfolded, "That means you too, sir, the Princess still needs her loyal guardsmen..." Smutts smiled back behind his glasses, as he took the seat of the young helmsmen from him.

"No, a kid like him, he doesn't get to die out here with all of us tough, old birds," Smutts states in return, as he begins moving the navigational console around, as the helmsman remains nearby watching all the while, "If they plan on taking us out, I sure as heck won't give them an easy target!" Having been exposed to the station as it had suddenly appeared, the Captain realized what the veteran warrior was doing, as he altered the ships course, turning towards the station, just enough so as to make it harder for any attack to hit critical systems. The Captain smiled, as did Smutts, while they prepared with baited breath for the oncoming assault to hit them, hoping they would miss all the while.

* * *

The satellite in position, having its gleaming, metal fangs pointed at the enemy ship after having been repositioned to focus on Lala's ship, the order was given. In a burst of power, drawn from its weapons batteries, and a lance of white-hot energy was shot from the myriad of converging points, that hit the broadside of the ship and pierced clean across the hull like it was old tissue paper. Its entire right side had an elongated scar, from its bow to its stern, a trench of exposed systems and defensive plating sheered clean off by the force of the blast. As the ship had drifted out of the beams path just enough not to get shot clean through, the damage was done and systems were failing fast, making every moment afterwards critical. Until an errant plasma fuel injector crossed a sparking conduit, and the ship bloomed with green fire, starting from its engine, until a successive chain of explosions had wracked the entire ship in a painstakingly slow detonation.

As Torneo watched savagely smiling all the while, he turned to the form of the Doctor on the screen,ready to revel in the sheer awe and terror he was no doubt expressing. ' _Wha-_ ' he thought, as the unmoved expression of the man was simply that of boredom,and not the awe or terror he wanted provoked in his underling. Gritting his teeth, the man smugly turned to ask his subordinate why he seemed so calm. "Doctor, should you not be trembling at the devastating power just one blast of my mighty weaponry caused," he leaned in, smugly, to taunt him, "Why is it you seem so confident in your security, you pitiful fool?"

* * *

From his own personal seat that he had installed in this area, he couldn't help but smile at Torneo's childish bragging, and his grave error in assuming the might and power of his weapon. "Oh, no, I am quite grateful to you Torneo, for taking care of one more problem for me in the long run; it would have been harder to stop them without you, though, I shall make that gratitude clear," the Doctor states, smiling coyly, as he revels in Torneo's confusion, "But... you forget, whom it was that suggested, who approved, and dare I say it, installed that pretty little weapon you have in your arsenal?" The confusion grew deeper on his face, until it morphed into understanding, and then etched dread and fear across his leathery hide, much to the Doctor's gleeful pleasure. With a simple snap of his fingers, he watched as the lights behind Torneo went out, as the macro-codes he had sent some minutes before were finally read by the computer interface on Torneo's side."I must say, you played your part well, just as Keize had his uses, I will remember that you had a part to lay in my rise to power in this universe, Torneo, just as your work has helped us out before," the 'Doctor' stated, before dropping the facade, and losing the glasses and mannerisms completely, "I believe you've earned yourself the right to see me, for whom I really am, before your grand end, my dear friend."

Taking it out from his jacket pocket, something he had retrieved from his locked room after Nemesis' infiltration, kept close and out of the view of curious minds, he held it up for Torneo to see clearly. "The Monkey's Paw, so to speak," the 'Doctor' stated, as the Boss of Solgam waited patiently for an explanation, "Cut from the hand of a simian friend of mine, who had the most garish ability to mimic the body and mind of your target, near perfectly, if you didn't notice his savage mannerisms." Holding the shriveled up paw to his face, the most bizarre and gross thing happened next. The shriveled hands slowly un-flexed, open by their users will, to reveal a small, red orb at the center of the once orange paw. With a glow of harsh red light, the form and figure of the man that pretended to be the Doctor, Kanzaki Kousuke, morphed into an older, mature, short of stature man, whose elongated, gray whiskers and plume of hair atop his head, were stark contrasts to the scientist that had once held those features.

"Ah, so good to be myself again, after all this time," the newly changed man states, rubbing his throat just a little, while gleefully enjoying the panic now showing on Rudman's face, "Unfortunately, this will be the last thing you see... besides the moon, of course." With another smile, as he tucked the now closed Monkey's Paw back into his loosely fitting clothes, he turned to the others and ignored the man still on screen. "Will someone for goodness sake get me something my size, preferably a robe and some pants," he shouts at his nearest lackey, before turning to get one last glimpse at Torneo, he says, "Mind the drop..."

* * *

Torneo Rudman is seeing red, as he recognizes the face of the man, and the name he had used all those years ago, when he first rejected him. "Chronos Number Eleven- no, Number Zero!" he spit and raged, as his men worked hard to get the power back on, as the communications channel was suddenly cut off after his final, cryptic taunt, "I'll get you, and my revenge, this I swe-" Lurching out form under him, Torneo suddenly felt something like gravity punching down on him, as his ship suddenly shifted from pointing its weapons and sitting idle in the resulting carnage, to having its engine rev to life and begin to move. It was then made all to clear what he meant, as he realized that the ship was not, in fact, realigning itself, but plunging straight towards the moon, one as dead as he would be shortly, with the force his ship was exerting. "Damn you, damn you to-"

Upon impact, no one could hear him scream.

* * *

"Lovely, absolutely lovely," Mason stated, turning to his men, who were all Gireo replanoids that he had made sure were created for this very day, "Inform Rochefort I would like to speak with him in the Shadow Vault, and make sure to alert me when the Hades reaches orbit." With that, the old man quickly walked down to the elevator corridor, with a new spring in his step, whistling all the while.

* * *

 _Hades_

Eve blinked awake, having fallen asleep among the field of flowers, after expending so much energy to cross the bridge she had made. They had appeared just outside of the Sol system, and had spent their remaining time since, waiting for the orders of what came next. Adam stood watch over her, blonde hair impeccable and not a speck out of place, pink eyes emotionless as ever, with the slightest hint of disdain shown in his posture as he looked down on her as she laid there. It was to be expected, of course, with her being an imperfect creature whose sole purpose was to follow the directions of her ever loving guardian, and of those given to him from their Master on Earth.

He didn't even notice the slightest of imperceptible flaws, as her eyes turned from purple back to maroon. Nor did he notice the lack of red chain around her neck.

How could he?

After all, he wasn't perfect.

 **A/N: What happened there at the end with Eve? Read the next chapter to see what happened!  
**


	14. Omphalos Hypothesis

**A/N: Please be aware that if you are reading this chapter first, it is part 3/3 chapters published. Please start reading from 'Darkness Approaches', if you don't want to get confused. edit: Seriously, you might wanna start at chapter 12, as it adds more info.**

 **Other then that: I do not own To Love-Ru. Fairly graphic description ahead. You havebeen warned.**

 **Oh and thanks for sticking with my story to its end!**

* * *

 _Lunar Orbit_  
 _Now_

 _*Cough*_

"Is everyone okay?" a Devilukean male asked from the bridge of the ship, the side that had not been cooked in super-dense plasma that had breached the hull. Thankfully for small victories, that the emergency shielding had held up long enough for him to get his bearings. Smutts now looked around, noting the young helmsman was gone, possibly evaporated or tossed out into space, and sadly so too had the Captain, with little more than half of him left beyond the force field, leaving only a handful of people alive on the bridge. "Well, damn," Smutts uttered, taking stock of the three surviving members of the crew on the bridge, "Can anyone tell me the status of the ship, or that station?"

"Sir, the station is- it's gone, sir," someone answered, not looking at any instruments, but rather through the force field, towards the moon, "See for yourself, sir." Smutts did that, turning to look and see a smudge, a smear of wreckage across the faintly reflected surface of the lunar body.

"Huh, I honestly-" he stops, suddenly hit with a coughing fit as he takes in a haggard breath, from the faint, possibly leaking, atmosphere, "-honestly, wasn't expecting -that-" The wreckage on the moon only confirmed his suspicions, as he noted with the failing instruments on the rest of the ship, that the gravity well was still increasing, though its end point seemed to be focused now on the location of the moon itself. "It was never the satellite -cough-," he states, wheezing as he takes the nearest injured crewman, and helps them up, "Whatever it is, it's still coming, and we have to escape and warn the princesses!"

A sudden darkness cast its shadow upon them, a sudden shaking of the ship, like an explosion rocking the hull. "No- no, we're too late; the ship is detecting a micro-wormhole, if it's already casting out this strong of a gravity well, and it isn't even here yet..." Smutts states, looking up to see a bright crimson star suddenly light up the dark of night, growing in magnitude like a bloody slash upon space and time, "It's dragging us in-"

* * *

 _Earth_  
 _Yuuki House_

"I didn't know- I swear, I didn't know he would ever-" the young woman put her hands to her head, her silver tux discarded, her white blouse barely crumpled as she leans into her hands while sitting on the couch, "-I can't believe he was one of them." The group had redirected itself to the Yuuki house, having abandoned their separate attacks while returning to their respective U.L.T.R.A. regional headquarters, they had been prevented from returning to the Sainan division through warp pads.

It had gone something like this:

* * *

 _"Bullshit, I am one of the senior members of the Sainan Division, assigned to this case by the Director himself," Miss Tsuzuki stated, holding out her personalized ID to the transport officer standing watch, "Director Rochefort gave me permission to use these, even when he wasn't currently-" Before her sentence was even finished, three guards in blacked out armor came rushing in to surround both herself and Nana._

 _"I'm afraid I can't let you by, 'Deputy-assistant Director' Tsuzuki, if that is your real name..." the transport officer states, "Considering Director Belze Rochefort has been presumed KIA, after his wife Angela, and their adoptive daughter Amane were kidnapped by Eden over seventeen years ago, and he went charging off after them, going rogue." The looks both Nana and Tsuzuki gave each other were genuine, not knowing that they had been so deviously fooled by an imposter. "Beyond that, U.L.T.R.A does not have any division, previously established or new, to teleport you too," he continues, as the three security guards raise their weapons, "Meaning the location of wherever it was you hacked into our system from, wouldn't be in our system at all!"_

 _Tsuzuki was prepared to go with them, disheartened and dismayed, shoulders sagging at this news. Nana, meanwhile, had secretly managed to get a hold of her D-Dial and tapped its sensor three times, to activate the emergency function of the device. When the Giga Wild Boar appeared, it threw the while room into chaos, as the girth of its size alone forced the others away and out the door._

 _"Gii-Chan, I need you to stay there, while Tsuzuki-sama and I figure out this transport system..."_

* * *

From there on, it was simply a matter of rerouting it to the Yuuki house, and having the Giga Boar destroy the console before recalling it. Momo had arrived shortly there after, having wrapped up the ones with her vines, and threatening them with her deadly cannon flower.

"Beyond the fact we can't get a hold of Lala or Director Rocheforte, Lala's ship sent Mikado-Sensei some kind of garbled warning, before they went radio silent and wouldn't respond to her calls," Momo responds, taking charge of the situation, "Tsuzuki-san, if the man we believed to be the Director is anything like the face we believed him to be, I can't imagine him doing all of this for no reason; perhaps he was a Gireo infiltrator himself, and only thinks he is the real deal, but until we find him and strangle the answers from him, we can't know for sure..." The mood got dark, real fast, but the threat of this situation was heavy, especially with the fact hanging over their heads, that the deadline for stopping the ancient Dyson Sphere from swallowing up this star system, was drawing to a close.

"What... can we do?" Mikan asks, grasping her mothers hands, her arm wrapped around her shoulder in a comforting embrace, as Mikan speaks up, "Without Onii-san...without Lala...do we have any hope of stopping that man?" Ringo squeezed her daughters hand tightly, as Celine grasped her other hand with her tiny fingers.

"I- I honestly don't know, but we do know the most likely place for them to be at, since we can't get a reading, but that may not be our most pressing matter..." opening her D-Dial, Nana opens up a subprogram that was counting down to zero, from 40 minutes, "The fact is, our Father will be coming to retrieve us, Earth saved or not, in little more than half an hour, giving us plenty of time to save as many as we can, before Earth gets swallowed for... however long the council decided..." She looks up to the faces of her younger sister, to the ex-agent, to her host and her mother, and sighed. "Is it- should we try and save as many people as we can?" Nana states, "There are aliens living on this planet all around us, should we not warn them, when we damn well know that the council didn't; to at least give them a choice, even if we don't have the best one ourselves?" The shocked silence that followed her suggestion hung in the air, and the ashamed princess could only look downwards with tears brimming at her eyes.

"We don't have our sister, we don't know where Smutts or Maul is, Nemesis should have appeared, but she hasn't been by for days, Tearju and Mikado-Sensei haven't heard from Yami-chan, Mea-chi, or Kuro-san in weeks," she continues, trying to hold her voice steady as she talks, "Rito is dead, the Earth is lost, and the Doctor has won...but we can regroup, we can convince those with ships to save as many humans as we can, and then we can take the Earth back, but only if-" A tiny punch, barely a tap, and it was all she need to cause her to stop, as she looked down to see the Tiny form of Celine pounding on her legs. She leaned down, hugging the small child, to stop her, as she broke down in grief and anguish at the stupid, selfish words she had been speaking.

Yet it was Momo who took her words in, and then blinked, as if something had dawned on her. Looking up, a smile growing on her face, she faced her older sister with a crazed expression. "Nana, you're a genius!" she stated, before taking off on a full fledged run towards the stairs, through the living room, and straight into Rito's room, and into his closet. The others followed, and they found Momo among a pile of unfinished and forgotten inventions, hands and knees, searching and sifting through them. "Here!" she cried triumphant, before extracting something that looked like an old, school microphone that would plug into some kind of sound system, "I always new she would have kept this one, after she pulled that prank on the castle." Pulling it out for the others to see, Nana's eyes lit up like a light bulb in understanding her sisters find.

"Is that the Wub Wub Karaoke-kun?" she says, all excited, "I remember that thing- when Dad didn't want us going and spending money on singing that one night, when we wanted to go all out and party, since he had work to do, Lala built that for us instead," she states, taking the box like object, and smiling at it with fond memories, "Only she built it out of a high-powered interplanetary radio transceiver, and managed to accidentally hijack all radio and interplanetary audio communications for four hours, before Dad finally figured out it was us, caterwauling away, unaware our terrible singing voices were being broadcast all across the planet..." Nana looks to Momo, raising a brow in question. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asks her younger sister, "If we let them know what is going on... we're letting them ALL know."

The hesitation was clear on Momo's face, but she shook her head clear and showed her resolve by slapping her cheeks. "Yes," she responds, "It's the only way...and we might just be able to save this world and its people!"

* * *

 _Shadow Vault_

Putting a hand over the coffin of pure obsidian, the reflective surface obscures the alien form within its container, Mason turns to his accomplice in their ruse. "Belze, I need you to prepare the conference room in the upstairs lobby; the 'Doctor' had prepared an interview with various worldwide news agencies, featuring live coverage of a ground breaking nanite technology that was going to revolutionize the wasted resources of this planet," Mason states, folding his hands behind his back as he addresses his underling, "While I prepare the Shadow Vault for contact with Hades, I require you to explain the truth of why we are here, and what the next step in our plan is..." Handing Belze a device with information on it, Mason dismisses the Gireo servant, as the former Chronos Agent looks over the outline of the speech.

"Quite...devious, sir, if I may say so," putting the device in his coat and looking back up at his master, "I am sure I can properly deliver your narrative in the light you require, though I ask how you plan on acquiring such a god-nanite in such a short time- unless, of course, you have recreated the Doctor's work in this world..." Mason smiles, chuckling manically as he strokes his beard.

"No worries, my favorite apprentice," Mason states, as he smiles fondly at the crystal pillars surrounding him, "I believe that in a short time, the answers to all of our problems, the lynchpin to our story, will be arriving...very soon." Chuckling, the man watches as Belze exits the room to go complete his task. "And, if not," he states, focusing on the black casket, "I believe there is one more source I can rely on..."

* * *

 **BREAKING NEWS: 7.1 Earthquake hits North America's West Coast.**

 _Canada Wildfires still blazing._

 ** _Flooding and winds threatens areas, as typhoon makes landfall in South China province._**

Newspaper clippings featuring natural disasters, both current and past, scroll across the screen of the scientific institutes video screen. The Facility had opened back up after a public health scare, allowing the reporters and TV and international newspaper journalists to flood into the transformed area of the party that was supposed to lead up to the revelation of a groundbreaking new invention. It was here that the fair maiden and Junior Ace Photographer, Akiho Sairenji, found herself dragging her boyfriend slash unpaid intern to attend this as a last minute assignment from her work, after just getting back from paid leave. "I'd rather be taking pictures of hot guys and bikini clad cuties for our magazine's summer issues; not covering some lame science expo," Akiho grumbled to herself, while her boyfriend/unpaid intern tried to sooth her growing impatience.

"Now now, we are going to be here for a couple of days," Yuu stated, smiling while trying to console his pouting photographer, "You know the Chief wouldn't have asked you to go, if his regular wasn't busy with her side work." The purple haired adult blew a stray hair out of her bangs in annoyance at that reminder.

"Stupid Otome, disappearing at all hours of the day, just cause her little brother needs help running that stupid cake shop..." she pouts, salivating at the memory of the cake, "Surrounded by all that delicious...yummy...succulent cake..." Sighing as his girlfriend gets lost in her daydreams and imaginings, he takes his own camera and snaps a few photos of the various attendees, just as the lights were lowered, and spotlights focused on the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the joint research division here at this facility, partnering with many of the fine eco organizations around this world, are proud to welcome you this evening, to a night of wonder and discovery!" Akiho realized the man from the stage was not the Doctor Kousuke she had come here to photograph, nor did he appear to be a member of the facility, from her pre-check on the flight, so she watches him as he talks, "This investment into a new nanotechnology has been fundamentally vital to instituting vital changes across, not only this facility, but around the world!" He continues to gloat, explaining things in boring technical term as they continue, but Akiho tunes this all out, as she waits for the stuff she is paid to take photos of to appear.

"Now, we are aware you were expecting Doctor Kousuke to appear here tonight, I am afraid that he won't be able to make it, do to...pressing matters of another research subject." The rumors and mutterings that follow, almost draw her attention, but she knows better than to jump the gun, and waits for him to continue. "As you no doubt understand, this facility is one of three spread across the North Atlantic, with our joint goal being the resolution of a problem that has currently plagued this modern world for far too long:" he states with much more false enthusiasm then she could ever think possible, "Wasted resources!" The crickets were followed by a stale cough, and an unimpressed reaction from the crowd, most of whom were looking for a juicy spin and to spread gossip about the elusive Doctor Kirisaki Kousuke.

"I know, I know," he states, raising his hands, to placate the crowd, "It doesn't sound interesting, but think about this: with how much plastic waste is in the Sargasso Sea alone, are you aware how much of it can be broken down, re-purposed, to serve a more fulfilling use, than just killing the local, vital, and extremely delicate, aquatic ecosystem?" The murmurs were a bit more, and even Akiho was getting a bit interested, if what he stated had any merit behind the so far empty words. "I promise you, before the night is through, you all see exactly what it is that we have planned that will, frankly, change the face of the world!" the silver haired man smiles, his slicked back, long hair giving him a debonair, suave mix that would have made any normal lady swoon at his charms, "For now, I would like you all to take your eyes to the sky, as we prepare to show you the first of what will be the most earth shaking developments of the night... ladies and gentlemen, we are not alone!"

As the roof above them splits open, to reveal a clear blue sky, the sunset slowly lowering into the horizon. A single, glass frame remains suspended on what appears to be something of a gyroscopic track, with the clear view of the sky being enlarged within its frame for everyone to see. A small shimmer is seen at first, barely noticeable, until it begins to grow, and the gyroscope moves to follow its track. Though not clear at first, the visible sparks of atmosphere trying to burn it away diminish, until a form, a space ship, is seen in the view. Many of the photographers quickly take pictures of the device while it is as still as can be, while tracking the falling object, which is definitely no satellite or simple chunk of debris. "Many of you can see the ship, for what it is, entering the atmosphere, almost undetected as it hides itself as a piece of meteorite, or other debris," the man announces, as if the subject of an alien craft wasn't strange to him, "For years, while humans have been concerned about their terrestrial borders, many alien beings have come to lay claim to Earth in secret, infiltrating your world, until enough of an invasion force could overpopulate your nations, throwing the world into anarchy!"

By now, many of the international news organizations had begun live coverage, no doubt broadcasting the footage across the world, along with the mans words. "I have seen no conqueror greater than one, the one who has sent these alien vessels scurrying to our world," the man states, with much enthusiasm, and hatred in his seething words, "Gid, Gid Lucione Deviluke, a madman, a conquering despot, who believes worlds like Earth should be handed to him on a silver spoon." He points up to the shifting magnifier, as the ship grows ever closer to the ground in its decent. "Good people of Earth, I declare to you this day: No more!" with a pounding of his fist,the anvil of justice descended from the sky, mirroring his motion. A beam of light pierced the clouds, the darkening sky turned a brilliant white with a flash, as an unmistakable arc of energy crashed through the ship on screen, reducing it to smithereens as the world watched in awe.

Akiho had the opposite effect in her head, a growing horror as she realized that the name of said conqueror, was suspiciously similar to the brilliant, kind, and eager alien girl that had become her younger sisters best friend at school, beyond her human friends. Whose known whereabouts were supposed to be Sainan High School, and a boys house, whom her sister at one time had had a crush on. The man must have been wrong, as Lala could have not been a more polarizing individual, compared to an alien infiltrator.

"But this work could not have happened from mankind alone, no, not without help of the very aliens whom had tried to conquer us, this very day!" the man pulled back, pointing to the screen, which then replayed the conversation between the Doctor, in reality Mason, and Torneo Rudman, albeit heavily edited to make it seem like Mason had been warning off the very man, whose weapon they had painted as 'taking control of', although no one present would have known of such a conversation. And so it was with Akiho, as she turned to Yuu, who had long since dropped his camera, to turn to his girlfriend.

"And this, this was only the first of many 'secret invasions' that have occurred over the years," the man continued, "The seized alien weapon, is merely one weapon of defense we will be turning over to the United Nations, as a sign of good faith, but it is the first of the many revelations we have planned for you tonight...at the end, it may just shatter your expectations of our place in the universe!" With a malevolent glint in his eye, Belze smiled as his captured audience recorded him for the posterity of the future of the human race, as it took its first steps towards understanding. No matter how short that future really was.

* * *

 _Mikado's Clinic_

"Can you believe that?" Ryoko states, silencing the television, which was playing a recap of the events interpreted by the late night news anchors, broadcasting it live on practically every station, "Years of work, of peace, and isolation, all undone in a single night; and we wonder why the GPD is only doing this to humanity, now of all times?" Ryoko was surprised when she realized that the exposure of alien life living on outside a planet wasn't exactly a new idea, but when the world began painting aliens as invaders, she knew the darkest thoughts and ugly imaginings of the world of science fiction, would paint over the brightest hopes and dreams the reality of it actually pictured. Had they mentioned that the King had actually threatened Earth, and left peacefully, then perhaps it would have been different,but she recognized fear mongering and manipulation of the masses amongst any world as the thing it really was: pride, ugly and vain as it was in its truth.

"Yes, Sensei, it is definitely disturbing," Oshizu nodded, as she fearfully watched the muted television, "I thought the old style of politics were bad enough, but this manipulation of the people's fears, has seemingly grown even worse in this time." The nurses assistant clasped her hands together, in a trite gesture. "I pray that Lala is alright, and that Nana and Momo manage to spread even an ounce the truth!"

"If an ounce of truth is a vaccine to the lies and hatred, this patient might already be septic, and we'd be better to cut our losses and amputate," The words of Mikado were nothing but cold and cruel logic, having not been unfamiliar with prejudices and the very same bigotry while out there among the stars, "If I weren't so attached to this place, so needed here, I would likely leave...but I can't abandon you, or the hope that the girls can't keep this world from falling into the darkness and despair!"

* * *

 _Princess' Attic Space_

"Are you ready?" Nana asked, hooking up the final connections into the worldwide satellite system, and ensuring the device was ready to be turned on. Momo nodded, and so it was Nana, along with Mikan, whom waited with baited breath as she turned the Wub Wub Karaoke-Kun on.

"H-Hello?" Momo states into the mike, as the screens of televisions all over the world suddenly halted. Mikan heard a burst of static from her phone, before looking down to see it replaced with an unusual box that showed the waving lines indicating sound waves were being broadcast over the air. "People of Earth, I know this may seem strange, frightening even," she starts, as she looks to Nana for encouragement, who shoos her on, "-I am aware that a star ship, an abandoned vessel, has fallen into orbit, but I assure you, this is not an act necessitating hostilities..." She hesitates, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I am Momo Belit Deviluke, Third born Princess, and heir to the throne of Gid Lucione Deviluke, the so-called conqueror that supposedly sent that ship to 'invade' your world," she states, "But there is no reason to... I and my sisters, my elder twin Nana, and I have even made human friends, and my eldest sister, set to inherit the throne, is to be wed to a human boy named Rito Yuuki; they love each other so much, he was the one who convinced my Father to leave Earth alone!"

She pauses, as Mikan then takes the microphone from her. "It's true, Rito is my brother, my name is Mikan Yuuki, and I live in the city of Sainan, in Japan, and I have watched my idiotic older brother grow from someone almost shameless, into an onii-chan I can depend on..." she states, as her voice slightly breaks knowing he wasn't there, "He- he loves the Earth, he fought against impossible odds to beat the King of Deviluke, and he's made plenty of alien friends, real friends, more than I ever thought he could! And they helped him all save the Earth too, because the Earth is their home, and they just want to be left along in peace!" Momo took the microphone back, as Nana hooked her D-Dial into the Karaoke machine, and began to play video footage she had recorded in secret of the day Rito won the race. A sudden commotion could be heard from the teleporter, but it settled down with the arrival of Ringo and another she was supporting.

"I'm sure most of you can see it now, but what should be showing up on your screens is actual video footage of my Father's flagship, when it came to Earth only a couple of years back," Momo states, as it shows Rito, as he dodges her vines, only to be helped out Mikado and everyone else, "Mikado-Sensei, she may look human, but she's an alien Doctor, whose goal in life is making sure all of her patients, alien or human, are well cared for, and manage to live fulfilling lives!" It cuts to Rito, as he barely makes it in time to hit the button, encouraged by all his friends, until it shows him being brought up to the ship, and then the ship leaving after a bright flash of light. "Most of you weren't aware of this event, because my sister, Lala, loved Rito so much she couldn't bare forcing him into a marriage while he wanted to live out the rest of his school life with his friends; so she erased everyone's memories of herself, of our father ever being there, and managed to win his love all over again," Momo states, as the video ends, "Father promised us that as long as Rito marries Lala, the Earth is under no ones domain, and eventually you all would have benefited from our technology, with Rito becoming the first Human Emperor of Deviluke and Earth...but the way things are going now, the Earth is never going to get that chance to grow!" Maul has appeared, a bit battered and bruised, and hands Nana something for her to take.

The words resonate across the world, and their reaction to these words vary, though it goes unseen. "A radical group of our Galactic Police Department, has scheduled your world for isolation through the use of an ancient technology, what you would call a Dyson Sphere, because of the fact an alien terrorist group has embedded itself within Earth; with Doctor Kirisaki Kousuke, and Belze Rochefort, at its heart!" Momo makes the announcement, and its implications resound across the world, "That weapon he just displayed, it isn't a planetary defense, its an outright act of aggression; we've spoken up, because we can show you how they really acquired it!" Nana pushes play on another audio and video file, this one hijacked directly via a shuttle Maul had taken out before he was able to return to Smutts and the others onboard the ship.

The video shows the Devilukean ship on the border of the far side of the moon, sitting where it couldn't be seen. Suddenly a tear in space, and the satellite and its weapon folds into view. After an initial blast that cuts out the video for a moment, as the arcing beam rushes past and shears off a side of the ship, the audio continues, until video is reestablished.

 _"Doctor, should you not be trembling at the devastating power just one blast of my mighty weaponry caused,"_ a voice states smugly, to taunt someone else, _"Why is it you seem so confident in your security, you pitiful fool?"_

 _"Oh, no, I am quite grateful to you Torneo, for taking care of one more problem for me in the long run; it would have been harder to stop them without you, though, I shall make that gratitude clear,"_ a voice who is assumed to be the Doctor states, though it is unknown why he sounds so smug, _"But... you forget, whom it was that suggested, who approved, and dare I say it, installed that pretty little weapon you have in your arsenal?"_ Unseen, the satellite suddenly went dark, before suddenly turning upright and staying there. _"I must say, you played your part well, just as Keize had his uses, I will remember that you had a part to lay in my rise to power in this universe-"_ It breaks off into static at that point, but the aftereffects are clearly seen, as the weapon suddenly plunges into the moon, in all its sickening glory, before video also scrambles into static.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but I wanted to let you all know the truth, before humankind gives into their worst fears, their secret desires, the apocalyptic fervor we all know is shown so frequently in your movies and television programs," Nana states, taking over for Momo, "Don't give in, don't lose hope, don't think this is the end of the world..." Nanatrails off, gathering her courage while giving time to let her words sink into all those listening and watching. "We've come out tonight, not because of fear of being found out, but because we are all running out of time to do something!" she states with as much urgency as she can muster, while keeping her voice level as possible, "We've called out, not to defend ourselves, but to send out an SOS, a call-to-arms, as the Princess' of Deviluke, as inhabitants of Earth, we call out to all that can hear, to all that can do something, anything!" She connects her D-Dial to the device, allowing it access to her Camera, where she records herself, Momo, Mikan, Celine, and even Ringo in the background, "Human and alien alike, whomever is listening, get whatever ships you can, your friends, your neighbors, whomever is willing to go, and meet us in lunar orbit so we can take out that blasted weapon and end this stupid interference from those senseless bureaucrats who don't live here, who really don't understand what is is to be human; who don't understand what it is like to live freely on such an accepting world as Earth." Momo hugs her sister in the video, Mikan, who is holding Celine, grabs her hand and fits both of them into the small video frame.

"To anyone who can hear this message, this is the plea of the twin princesses of Deviluke-"

"And the plea of Mikan and Celine Yuuki!"

"-We ask of you all: despite our differences, despite our Father's measures in uniting this universe, anyone on Earth, or the surrounding star systems, help us save this planet, help us save the Earth!" Momo now states; pleading as she stares into the camera, "This world has become our home, and if you cannot stay and fight, if you cannot say this wonderful place has become your home..." Momo looks over to her sister, to Mikan and even little Celine, lowering her head as she speaks. "Please, do not let our fight go unnoticed; go to your peoples governments, go to the union council and plead our case!" she says all of this, defiantly looking up at the camera now, "Kirisaki Kousuke, Solgam, whomever you are, know that even if this planet is locked away, even if you say you aren't a threat to this world, I-we, will find you, hunt you down to the ends of this world and take everything back the future you took; not only from us, but all of those that call Earth their home!"

* * *

\\\\\ _Earth_ \\\\\

\\\\\ _Ten Years From Now_ \\\\\

"Mom, mom, what did you do?" Ichigo asked, her bright, young eyes a double for her own, shining up at her mother's face, all pretense of sleep forgotten amidst the excitement of the story, "If the bad guy caught you, how did you escape... did Dad rescue you?" Uwe laughed, chucking a pillow at her cousin's overactive response to the pause in the flow of the story.

"Come on, kid, she can't get to the good part of the story if you keep interrupting her, you little rugrat!" the older cousin states, grabbing her from her Lala's lap to tickle her and free her aunt from being trapped beneath her own child. A sudden knocking at the door, and Lala looked up to see the golden tresses of one of her oldest friends, who had been assigned to protect her on the trip back to Earth. "Hey, let's you an me go raid the fridge before the cook comes in," Uwe states to Ichigo, before leading the smaller child out of the room, despite her protests, "It seems the adults need to chat." After leaving the room, Yami took Uwe's spot, staring across to Lala.

"Yami-Chan, is something the matter?" the Queen of Deviluke asks her most trusted friend and confidant, "Has something come up; does it require us to meet back up with Rito?or is it..." The golden haired TRANS Weapon merely folded her hands in her lap and stared at the queen.

"Lala Satalin Deviluke- I, am afraid..." she suddenly confesses, much to Lala's surprise at the use of her full name, without its proper title attached, "I cannot keep this connection open for long, or else Adam will notice." The confusion of the queen only grew, until Yami started to talk once more. "Princess, I am not in control of my actions, and soon Darkness will take full control from me," Yami continues, reaching out to grab Lala's hand and squeeze them together, "Please... please, protect my sister, don't let her become that monster again... she called out for help; I failed, but maybe you can still protect her." Lala noticed something odd, something sleek and red around her friends neck, but then it was gone, and for the briefest of moments she recoiled upon seeing something scarlet snake down her friends arm. She tried to free her grip from Yami, but the scarlet circuitry was too fast, spreading to each of her fingertips, before recollecting itself together at her wrist, and wrapping itself fast in a single band of red.

"Golden Darkness, explain to me what that was, and what-" her complaint was hushed by her friends sudden covering of her mouth, as Uwe and Ichigo walk back into the room, "Hmmph-" Uwe laughed at something Ichigo had just said, and Yami pulled her hand away and got up, as if to leave.

"Are you going already, auntie?" Ichigo asked, cocking her head and pouting as she did so. The TRANS Weapon merely nodded, remaining mute as she smiled and left, as if nothing were wrong at all.

"What was that all about?" Uwe asked, looking back as she sat back down next to Lala, with her cousin squeezing in between them both, holding a dish of gourmand ice cream, dark matter flavored. Uwe offered a bowl to Lala, who took it with a bit of hesitation.

"I don't know," Lala stated honestly, wondering what that was all about, "I think it was really odd..." Bringing a silver spoonful of the dark matter flavored treat to her mouth, she had the unfortunate luck of having the event playing over again in her mind, and absently looked down at the black, oozing ice cream. Lala swore as she took to close a look at her spoon, as the sudden flash of a golden eye appeared to be floating in the black ooze, and she nearly screamed as she dropped the contents of her utensil back into the bowl. As if the horror movie effect on her spoon wasn't enough, staring along with a matching eye inside the bowl, was a misshapen and malformed attempt at a mouth that seemed to be screaming up at her in horror in imitation of some muck monster, or swamp ghoul.

"No- no, I always wanted a daughter named Ichigo, I thought Uwe would have - _no_ -" Lala suddenly began muttering, as if realizing something for the first time, "Golden eyes, dark matter..." The look from Uwe was one of surprise at her aunts screams, but the mask of terror on Ichigo was enough to confirm her suspicions. "What have you done to Nemesis... where am I?" taking the bowl in hand and swatting the other two out of her daughter and niece's hands, "Who are you both, really, and what kind of sick joke is this?" Stepping up off of the bed and turning around to face the two children, she takes her spoon and points it back out at both of the girls.

"Honestly, I'm glad you figured it out so fast, it was getting a bit hard to stay composed," Uwe suddenly stated, going to get up from the bed, black veins suddenly spider webbing their way across her face, "You left us behind to die...you never even bothered to try and save my father, as I shot him down!" Veins turned to cracks, as pieces of skin fell away like porcelain, leaving an empty void of inky black beneath her skin, where blood and bone and sinew should be. "I have so much hatred and anger..." she starts to say, before Ichigo jumps into action, clamping onto Uwe's arm and pulling her back.

"No, this isn't you, this isn't what I wanted!" the girl suddenly cries out, as the older girl swats her back, causing her to fall hard and hit the edge of the bed, "OW!" Lala's own maternal instincts, false as they may be, wanted to step in and check on the girl that wasn't really her daughter, but Uwe appeared to have other plans.

"I don't care anymore, we're too late anyway, Hades has come to Earth," Uwe states, as she lunges and grabs Lala by the straps of her nightgown, "We kill her, and the Doctor loses two universes worth of genius, all in one package!" Lala wants to resist, to figure out what the hell is going on, but the fact is she can't speak, waves of terror crashing over her as the child she had thought had been erased by the change in the timeline, had come back as some temporal wraith, all to seek some misguided revenge.

"NO!" the young child states, getting up from the floor and lunging at the older girls center of gravity, her bust, "If there is any chance to get your father back, we need her to help find him!" The girls succeeds in knocking her over, taking all three of them to the ground, and it was there as Lala was getting back up, that she noticed something different about the little girl. She was no longer little, rather she appeared to be about the size of herself, if she had been still in her preteens, like when she had lost most of her power after facing down Darkness.

"You- you're like me?" Lala poses it in rhetoric, but the child tears up as she looks up at her.

"No, Lala, you're like me..." the girl responds.

Lala knows that the child isn't making any sense, but the sudden realization as she looks at the child closer, she realizes that instead of black cracks forming, like Uwe, the area around the girls heart was exposed, revealing a cracked and piecemeal organ that seemed to be slowly flaking apart.

"I know this won't make much sense, but I was you, the last of the remnants of the true you, before the Doctor, or Mason, I can't really remember..." she goes off on a tangent, before shaking her head and getting back to the main issue, "Anyway, he tried to take us and cut away all our feelings for Rito out, childlike innocence and all, and make us kill him... that feels like forever ago, now that I think back." The fuzzy memories of the Earth from the moon, of screaming, of pain, come flooding back to her as she keeps speaking. "He decided he wanted our body, too, for some grand experiment, but he had to distract Rito long enough because he would have kept getting in the way, so he split us into two halves, keeping me in his grip, while sending you, a shadow of myself, out instead," the younger Lala states, beaming up at the older Lala as she continues to speak, "Except he fought his way across the universe for us, with Mason faking our death as an stopgap to keep Rito confused, except Rito managed to get us to come to our senses, and using the power of the Pearls, which were still under our control, we tried to go home..."

"But with you and I split, it wasn't enough, was it?" Lala stated, as the younger one looks up at her, tears in her eyes as she nods, "Infinite power, but only half a compass; so part of me got left behind..."

"Right," she states, as she walks closer to put a hand on Lala's chest, where her heart would be, "So with the other half of our pearl in his hands, he...he..."

"We've never left the world inside the Pearl," Lala finishes, as she puts her hand over the younger Lala's, "And now he believes he has all of us..." The touch of the younger Lala began to burn, as the exposed heart began to throb, until it broke apart in a shimmer of red, along with her child form, having finally found its other half as it suddenly begins to be absorbed back inside her newly reunited body.

"Mason believes he has won." Lala states, as she looks at a cowed Uwe, whom had fallen silent at this revelation, "Let us see if we can't surprise him even more..."

* * *

 _ **Have you ever heard of the five-minute hypothesis? Sometimes called Last Thursdayism, it postulates that the divine creator created this world in the blink of an eye, fully formed, full of life and everything to necessitate its continuation, but that false evidence was introduced to make everything appear as if it always existed. You and I could have been created last Thursday, but to us, we've held rich, long lives, full of experiences we believe to be real, to have happened...**_

"-We will find you-" these words were barely heard, as Lala started to come around, having fallen asleep in the mind numbing darkness of that insulated capsule she had been placed into. She was still, unfortunately, strapped into said device, but at least the cover had been removed, and the bright, sterile lighting was illuminating her and her surroundings. She couldn't help but see the smug face of the man in gray, Kirisaki, Zero, or Mason, or whatever he called himself, standing there, watching the television feed being piped into the screen.

 ** _But the begs the question..._**  
 ** _'Who created this world?'_**

"It's all quite hopeless, their little resistance," Mason states, looking over to Lala, who was trapped and restrained, "Your sisters are quite persistent, even despite the little charade we pulled to get you all split up, they managed to pull together for one last hurrah." He chuckled, a sardonic laugh full of ridicule, as he put his hands behind his back. "Unfortunately Torneo's satellite is little more than a distraction now, I only needed it to stir up the pot, get people antsy and nervous, so all those negative emotions get bubbling up in the chaotic maelstrom of overreaction," Mason states, as he sighs just audibly enough to confuse her, "You see, Princess Lala, humanity is not at the top, or at the very least, not the best version of itself... but that will all change, very soon, indeed." Taking a remote from his pocket, he switches the feed off, and reveals a wall, filled with technical schematics and various drawings that Lala couldn't even begin to understand, especially not while strapped into this infernal machine.

 _ **And, inevitably...**_

"You see, I needed a little bit of something from you all," Mason states, turning to Lala, "Yui Kotegawa's moral sense, Haruna Sairenji's personality traits, her meekness, shyness, her...kindness; even your physical parameters, which I received from an agent within the Devil's Playground, they were all parts of something I wanted to use to build a better, well, you." He rubbed his chin, chuckling as he does so, turning away towards the schematics. "While I would have preferred to capture and dissect Rito, with all the anomalous readings he had been giving off, your body is already physically perfect in every way; capturing you actually rendered the clone body I had prepared unnecessary, so all I have to do is offload the anomalous personality hiccup in your template, and I can have my lovely little Lala Lillia back under my thumb." Lala recoiled at his words, confusion sweeping through her mind, as she tried to process his words.

 _ **'Am I real?'**_

Her heart was beating fast, too fast for her liking, as Mason drew closer, taking his hand and drawing it towards her face. "Let me show you what I mean," he states, as he slowly drags his hand over her cheek, before pinching into soft flesh, and digging fingers and nails into her cheek, until he pulls it away in one bloody chunky.

 _ **Hell if I know the answer to either.**_  
 _ **Oh, wait...**_

Except there was no blood, no dangling flesh from her cheek, just something smooth, jagged all around like some kind of puzzle piece, and altogether unnatural. Taking a mirror from his forgotten implements, he brought it up to her face so she could see what he had done to her. Lala stared up into the missing chunk, noticing a perfectly matching gap in her face to the smooth lump of flesh he held in her sight. What was beneath her skin was nothing. No muscle or bone, no bloody veins, just emptiness and shadows. Like all she was, was an empty husk, a shadow of her true self.

 _ **I CAN answer that first one.**_

 _'What am I?'_ she thought.

"What am I?" she voiced, " _Who_ am I?"

" _Who_ did this?" she cried, "Am I even real?"

 _ **"It was me."**_ Mason stated. He grinned as he then went back to his work.

* * *

 _Planetary Orbit_  
 _Royal Memorzean Transport_

In the space of such little time, the two princesses had done the impossible. Riding in Run and Ren's spaceship, with Ren giving them the keys to it while his sister was out and about in her idol career and he sat by Haruna's bedside, Momo and Nana had quickly gathered a fleet of over thirty nine various ships. Some were insignificant transports, freighters refugees had outfitted with the basic protective weaponry, and even ships from the enemies of Deviluke joined in, adding some fighting power to their attack fleet.

"Alright everyone, we'll send a few ships to the moon to take care of the laser cannon," Nana stated, taking the lead with her sister Momo behind her, "The rest of us, we will head to the edge of the solar system, to intercept the sphere before it reaches Earth." She looks upon the faces of the aliens that were part of the small fleet, and realized that most of them were fairly simple folk, who had very little part in any kind of battles. "Do we have any questions about what we are going to do?" she asks.

"I have one, Nana-dono," a small, older looking alien, whom had introduced himself as Shikura, speaks up, "Do we expect the GPD to give up their encapsulation of the Earth, to such a small fleet as this?" The words were murmured around the entire communications channel, as both Nana and Momo realized that any drop in morale could cause this temporary alliance to crack.

"We know it's not likely, but we have to try!" Momo stated, deciding not to hide the truth from them about their odds, "Our father was trying to get one last word in, but there is a slim chance in him directly changing their minds; by showing our defiance, though, we can try and deter them from completing their objective, stalling them at the very least..."

"And, if worst comes to worse..." Nana states, looking up at the men and women and non-gendered aliens shown onscreen, "Those who don't want to stay...we authorize their retreat into known space; our youngest sister will return to Deviluke, if necessary; Lala...Lala and I have decided to remain on Earth, to help fight from the inside, if it comes down to it." The lie was ashy on her tongue, and Momo's surprise almost showed on her face at that sudden declaration, but Nana had made her mind up. She would find Lala, and help continue the fight from the inside, but one of them would have to return home, to inherit the throne. At that, she was going to give the order to begin the advance, when a sudden spike in gravity and the sudden appearance of multiple ships folding out of warp, drew both princesses attention.

"That's Dad's flagship!" Momo cried out, noticing it flanked by a few Deviluke ships, and a small majority of GPD escorts, "He must have convinced the council to let Earth go!" It wasn't seven seconds after her utterance, that the first volley of attacks from the flagship went out, striking a civilian transport in range, and blowing it up to smithereens. Opening up a channel to the flagship, Momo quickly tried to figure out what made him do such a crazy thing.

"Dad, Dad, it's us, Momo, Nana; these ships are under our protection, they aren't hostile!" Momo cries out, as she opens up a secondary channel to the rest of her small fleet, "Break formation, civilian transports should return to the surface if you can; I'm trying to contact our father to figure out what screw is loose this time!" After that, a break in the formation occurred, as several smaller transports and frigates returned to the surface, leaving the Memorzean ship, Shikura's vessel, and a few other armed vessels.

"Father, this is Nana Astar Deviluke, I demand you cease fire on the retreating civilians, and explain yourself before we get angry!" her bluff was met with silence at first, until the screen opened up to receive video feed from her father's ship. On screen, he looked the same as ever, but his eyes, Nana noticed, were far from the warmth he usually showed them.

"This is King Gid Lucione Deviluke, Emperor of five galaxies, undisputed warlord, and Earth's time has come," he responds coldly, mechanically, "Return to your homes, evacuate this planetary system and leave me to my work- the Earth is to be sealed away, with no exceptions." The video was cut after his proclamation, but something just didn't add up to either of his daughters. But before they could voice their concerns to the remainder of the fleet, over half their number folded away, entering the warp to return to known space.

Momo kept herself from commenting on their cowardice, but the self preservation instinct was-

An explosion, then another, as noticeable light shows appeared from the dark just a bit beyond her father's own fleet. Brilliant red crosses of light, lit up the shadows like exploding stars. The shockwave rolled by and it was with growing horror that both Nana and Momo came to the same sickening conclusion.

 _Darkness had arrived._

Encapsulating the surrounding area in a cloak of darkness, leaving tiny bits of filtered light that mimicked the stars, the Dyson Sphere had already long since surrounded the planet, cutting off all escape.

 _And it did not come alone._

They were too late.

* * *

 _Shadow Vault_

Ten crystals resonated in the hilly recreation, one having been fully destroyed to fulfill its true purpose, a second left intact upon their original resting grounds, to ensure the bridge between the two sites would connect. It was here that Mason found himself staring at the false image of the planetoid he had created sat in the sky, where too thereupon the recreation of his original home, for untold eons, now rested, its visage restored once more around its home star.

"It's beautiful," Mason said while looking up at the sky, just to the side of the pale moon, "And soon it will open the way for mankind to become the pinnacle species, in this and any universe that follows!" Joy renewed, he returned his gaze to the obsidian coffin, excitingly picking away another piece of his masterwork, placing it among a few dozen pieces he had already methodically placed so he could return it to its full glory, once his job was done. Using the knowledge of the twisted scientist and doctor, he returned to the delicate operation he had been undertaking, calling upon all the skills of a dead man, replicating his vast talent for use by a man who was practically talent less in the field of medical knowledge.

On a slab of black that was his easel, Lala was his subject of dissection. Left eye socket removed, her lower jaw partially removed with her tongue, rendering her mute, her breastbone cracked open, too clean, to expose an impossible, beating red heart among an empty black void. Lala sat in silent agony, having been turned into a science experiment.

She could still feel every piece of her body lying there at the table side; in fact she could still see out of her left eye, which had been positioned so obviously, he might have replicated the psychopaths mind too well, all in a way so she could watch him work on her body from an outsiders perspective. No doubt in her mind, it was the black coffin that had done this to her, changed her bodies structure so she was a living imitation of some porcelain doll, broken down, only to be glued back together. She could see her beating heart so clearly from a nauseating perspective.

"So strange, no wonder you seem to be going off script, you have grown yourself a heart," Mason states, as he takes to removing yet another rib from her chest, so as to get to the heart of the matter, "You're just a shadow, a shade of the real thing, yet here you have a real, live, beating heart inside of you, hollow girl." He peels more skin away, the bloodless tissue more like papier-mâché than real flesh. "Such an interesting heart, so full of love," he noted, as he removed the last rib obstructing his progress, so he could remove her heart for closer study, "I wonder how you got it..." Taking the heart, gently at first, he squeezes it slightly, as he tries to pull the slippery thing from her empty chest cavity.

' _It hurts,'_ she thinks to herself, _'So hot...feels so wrong, why can't you stop-'_ As if in response to her mind, the heart begins to tighten, her breathing gets dizzy despite the obvious metaphorical and literal changes to her body.

Despite the pain from the tugging, Lala realizes something that Mason cannot: her heart isn't budging. "Hmm," he hums in annoyance, as he takes a closer look at the beating organ, "Strange... why does this seem to be segmented..."

As if by some sort of odd magic her heart actually unravels itself, released like a spring toy, and what appeared to be one whole muscle, revealed itself to be a bright red surprise. Her heart was one big, red string, and despite it small size, it explode upwards and out of her chest in loops and whorls that seem to reach up into the sky, and fluttering back into her chest in one chaotic symphony. Seeing it for herself, she noticed one crucial detail that wasn't obvious with it all swirling and whirling in the air, like it was trying to protect itself: It seemed to be unevenly frayed at one end of a single piece of the string. One half was short, barely an inch, the other seemed to be cut at five or more inches. The longer she stared at it, the more familiar it became, as if she had seen it once before, in a dream. And it seemed that this dream knew more than she did about her missing better half; as the waves of pain and heat finally resonate with her understanding as she places it among an aspect of love: heartache. It seemed the red sting that had bound her to Rito, was just chalk full of surprises.

' _Rito,'_ she thought to herself, ' _I can still feel your love...'_

*****  
 **To Be Continued**

 _Welp, that's it. I also do not own 'Don't Forget', which is owned under the Deltarune/Toby Fox label, featuring Laura Shigihara as the singer._  
 _I think it's time to move on to another story for me._

 _Hope you enjoyed my wild ride._  
 _Please don't forget to leave a review, or else I can't improve my writing. (;P)_  
 _Favorite and follow if you wish!_  
 _And as always..._  
 _Have a fun and successful rest of 2019!_

 _What? You don't believe this is the end?_

 _Really?_

 _Really?_

 _Really, really?_

 _V_

 **Continued...**

* * *

 _Somewhere_

How long had he been here?

[-as her heart swelled-]

Ten years?  
minutes?  
days?

[-and would rescue her from the **darkness** ,-]

It all blended together for him now.

All that was and all that is and all that could be.  
It was so white, so much lIgHt,

 **ALL THE LIGHT**

But he was  
N **o** Wh **E** rE  
EVe **R** yWhEr **E**

But HE couldn't be...

He was wanted to be DEAD

 _But you are dead?_  
 _You entered a black hole_  
 _Or are you exiting a white hole?_

[-knowing her beloved would survive-]

He was crazy, after all the voices were speaking to him now too...

Angels?  
Devils?  
Not god, he knew that much...

He would have ended this torture with sweet, sweet oblivion...

 _Do you really want to die?_

The light burns even when he closes his eyes and covers them with his hands...  
He used to create black light, but even that had turned golden in this holy inferno.

 _The mind sees what it wants to see, Rito. Are you sure you've been swallowed up by the light,_  
 _and not the dark?_

No, no,of course not, that would be **C** r _A_ z **Y**...  
[-whatever trial came upon him,-]  
He W **a** S _n_ 'T iN _s_ An **E**

 _I can help you, find the place where you belong_  
 _If you want to escape the dark_

 _Only if you want, though, and even then the choice is yours_

Choice? Mine?  
 _Yes_

Yes,  
YES, PLEASE!  
[-with burning passion-]  
Anything but the **DARK**!

Endless, _cold_...  
Nothing could be so maddening!

Days?  
minutes?  
hours?

So dark, he couldn't see anything...  
Couldn't feel anything...

[-'I can still feel-]

Worse[- **r** -]

How long had he been there?  
He would choose to go...

 _ **Anywhere else...**_

In the endless dark, a stark white page fluttered before his very eyes, and Rito opened his eyes to see a near blank page before him, as it began to fill with words:

* * *

 _Unknown Time_  
 _Unknown Place_

A black journal, bone-white paper filled with graphite dust, etchings of ink, colored black and blue, and every color of the rainbow. "The days will come, when I will not be able to save this world," a figure cloaked in black states, staring around at the wooded, hilly area, where their journey had long ago started, "This is my record, my story, so that my sacrifice for you all may not be forgotten." Finishing his words, he closed the journal and turned to face her, in silent scorn. "I'm sorry, my princess, but it seems that I can't join you yet..." he states, bending down to set the heavy words he had written upon the forest floor, "My story is nearing its end, though,and I shall soon join you, after one last task..." Leaving the unmarked grave, with the last paper watchmen standing guard from the shadows, he turned back to head into the small valley. Walking back to the parched rock face, where once clear water flowed; back to the place where it all began, and where his story must end.

A waterfall, a hags old, crumbling house, the broken ground where he first beat his former brother in arms. A tunnel, darkness, mustiness, a mirror that showed only the truth of your heart, and the memories of a girl whose resolve was forged by this blasted, cursed object. Drawing his sword, the one that was not his but the other's, he knew what had to be done, if this world was to be saved, its peoples knowledge and sacrifices not forgotten in vain. Muttering to himself, the mirror came to life before him, and began to bubble, even warp in odd angles, as he watched it rend underneath his control.

"No...you can't," a voice from beyond the mirror stated, as the face takes shape in the mirror, from the world beyond, "I didn't have the power to change- why, why do you think you can...traitor?" The voice was merely an echo, of a man he had killed in another world, a haunting specter of doubt he clung to, balancing that sole, rational part of his mind that told him he would fail while trying to accomplish this.

"It doesn't matter anymore, nothing you can say, or do, will change my mind, old friend," he stated, taking the sword he had prepared, and weighing it in his hand, "Though, perhaps, I may have thought wrong..." Taking the sword, he put the crimson blade that was not his away, cooling that shadow of doubt until it was a simple hiss of rage, as he drew his own blade from the sheath at his side.

"Perhaps the failure comes, or perhaps it doesn't," he states, smiling as he takes the pitch-black blade, and levels it with the mirror, "I will rewrite this world, not with someone else's power... at least not without sacrificing every ounce of my own!" Taking the blade he forced it into the mirror, the glass warped and rippled; the metal behind it turning the color of pitch, then obsidian, until the hilt was to its base, and would go no further. At first everything was fine, but then a crack, and then another, until it slowly but surely began to spider-web its way across the surface of the mirror. "No... if our world must end _-if it must end-_ it ends with me, and me alone..." he roars, as he begins to pour every ounce of strength and power into that weapon, a shining, pure light sealing every crack in that obsidian glass as fast as they were fracturing, "I will open the door for a new future, even if it means sacri- _***_ "

A vacuum of silence sucked away all sound.

An explosion of energy, and then the world continued spinning on its axis.

Inside the now pitch-black mine, a single, cracked mirror remained, sealed forever with a fearsome sword.

On that unmarked grave, as the energy wave ripples across the wind, the forgotten journal's inner pages are exposed, its power burning the leather bindings to ashes. Black bound leather is blown away into the sky, the pages written inside it are then scattered in a twister of white and disappearing ink. Unseen by anyone, the now blank pages scatter on the wind, the words that stained their pages burned away by the cinders of cast off power..

Unwritten, save a single pair of lines:

* * *

[-Lala thought to herself,-]

Rito was **mad** with grief, but...

 ** _A heartbeat, a broken red thread entangled, coiled, and bunched around his still beating heart. A crimson band that throbbed with heat against the cold, a chain of love filled memories etched inside every link. A spark, just a little bit tinder, and then there was..._**

[-' _Rito_ ,'-]  
[-love...'-]  
[- **you** -]

 _ **LIGHT**_

* * *

 _"This old story has penned its final chapter._

 _Your new one had just begun to be written."_

* * *

{['Rito,'][ _Lala thought to herself,_ ][ _as her heart swelled_ ][ _with burning passion,_ ][ _knowing her beloved would survive_ ][ _whatever trial came upon him,_ ][ _and would rescue her from the **darkness** ,_]['I can still feel **you** ][ **r** ][ love...']}

 _/ Don't Forget, by Toby Fox, Feat. Laura Shigihara/_

 _/When the light is running low/_  
 _/And the shadows start to grow/_  
 _/and the places that you know/_  
 _/seem like fan~tasy/_

 _/There's a light inside your soul/_  
 _/That's still shining in the cold/_  
 _/With the truth/_  
 _/The promise in our hearts/_

 _/Don't forget/_  
 _/I'm with you in the dark./_

 **Final A/N(For Realz): Ok, seriously, this story is over. No more new chapters. I'm thinking of creating a prequel spin-off going into depth, so let me know what you want answered, and I'll se what I can do.**

 **As always, favorite, like, review, and leave a comment so I can continue improving. Thank you all for joining me on this journey, and know that Rito's journey has just begun.**


	15. Three Faces Epilogue: Fight the Future

**A/N: Hello again! An epilogue for you all, before I move on to my next story.**

 **edit: Also, apparently, I am a forgetful idiot!**

 **edit2: Hot cross buns! it appears I am doubly an idoot! Fixed some grammer, and edited Chapter 10 with the** _freaking missing chapter!_ **! Go back and read it if you want, it may make this chapter make more sense. and if anyone can tell me if I actually put out Chapter 10 before, let me kniw how much of a doofus I was by leaving a answer on a new poll I will be putting up.**

 **I do not own To Love-Ru, Black Cat, ir any other works within, all are property of their respective eowners.**

 _Earth_

 _The Shadow Vault_

A ring of broken crystal pillars sits atop an artificial hill built underground, arranged in such a way for some mysterious purpse, with their broken and fractured bases hidden deep beneath the ground. Looking at the ring of crystal pillars, which had been transported deep into the bowels of this building, Mason stood over a black coffin. He had it moved back into this room, as the artificial sky continued to monitor and highlight the approach of Hades from the view of the surface above them. "Only a few more minutes to get into alignment, and the revivification process will begin," he states, smiling as he turns to the occupant of the coffin, who was struggling against her bindings, "Your sacrifice will be unfortunate, but with the loss of a cultivated dark energy battery, such as Rito; I'm afraid you will have to suffice for my plans." Taking care to send another electrical shock through the bindings, Nemesis screamed out in pain as the charge disrupted her cohesion.

"I learned from the mistakes of my predecessor," Mason states, "He believed that the few, together, could shape the future of humanity and create a world free of the weak, the poor, and the pitiable; that together, with the powers we were blessed with, with so many like minded individuals, and his vision, that we could become our worlds new pantheon of gods." He turns to Nemesis, who had calmed down, but was still breathing heavily from the shock of it all. "It was an admirable yet misdirected goal, of course, but he also had mistakenly believed that he would be the head of that pantheon, because of the backing of his benefactor-" Mason turns with a wicked smile, "-whom was also my benefactor and teacher; though he was not aware of it at the time, the Doctor had been dancing in my palm long before he had 'recruited' me." Turning his head to the side, he gained an almost pitying look, as he puts a hand to his face. "Wearing his face, having his memories... I could see the potential of his plans, and all their tragic flaws," Mason continues, as his hand drops back to his side, "You likely wouldn't understand any of this, of course, because none of that happened here; it was such a long time ago, really, and my quest is still ongoing... to make, to build, that perfect world, full of perfect human beings." He pauses and turns his hands to fists. "But that world, that goal, is still yet far removed from my grasp," he states, as he turns to gaze up at the haunting new moon in the sky, "I'm so close, so very close now; I can feel that I will create a world free of old superstitions, of monsters, of gods; but there is still yet more I must sacrifice." Nemesis looks up at him, a bead of sweat dropping down her brow, as she catches her breath.

"Humans... will never...accept you," she states, as Mason takes the tie to turn back and look at her, "Their individuality-their differences-make it an impossible feat; you would have to strip them of that uniqueness, but that's too much work at world wide scale."

"A feat, yes, but not impossible," he states, as he smiles down at Nemesis, "But you are right, in this universe it will be impossible to convert a single world without trouble, but that is why I had other plans for this world..." Turning to Nemesis, he pulls out a three inch sized needle, and puts it over Nemesis' heart. "I have waited for countless eons, perfecting my craft, honing my understanding of each of the universes I have visited before this one, and have finally perfected the process in this one; but you see, I needed a specific kind of being capable of making it possible, specifically, one with the properties of Dark Matter..." Nemesis' eyes go wide, as he plunges the needle straight into her chest, and begins to siphon off a dark liquid.

" ** _GAGGGH-_** "

"Long ago, I managed to convince the real Kanzaki Kousuke to find a way to access the next universe," Mason states, as he steadily holds the plunger, "The genius managed to create a device that would digitize our memories and place them into vessels, items made of a rare element called hihi'irokane, a metaloid made from the experiments of Tao energy upon another certain rare earth element, which would encode the building blocks of our souls into the next universe at the very moment of its conception." Withdrawing the filled syringe from her chest, the gaping wound spurted some of the dark liquid, Mason plugged it with a cloth he then forced into her flesh. "A messy process, and quite uncontrollable as to when and where; we could have merely come about during the formative years, or near the end of the universe, for all we knew at the time," Mason states, as he wipes the syringe clean, setting it aside. While the rag continues to sop up her bleeding essence, Mason is grabbing a gun from the table to prep it for his next step. "Fortunately, we had powers at our disposal to create a sort of...simulation, of what the next universe would be like: the Doctor, with the power to create his version of the world, and an eye containing the power stolen from a man who could see the future-" Mason states, as he turns back to Nemesis, "-the unlimited source of Tao energy from a man with an unlimited potential, and a teleporter, with the ability to observe the conditions of that world which followed the beginnings of our experiment; all of this allowed us to accurately predict and pinpoint exactly when and where we would end up, to a certain degree of accuracy."

"And you ended up stranded, here in this world?" Nemesis questions, her chest throbbing in pain, "Human individuality naturally rejects the idea of universal consciousness, so unless your new world will embrace individuality, you will fail like all the other foolish men throughout the history of the universe!"

"Hah! Don't make me laugh, you are just a tool for me to get what I want," Mason states, as he handles the weapon filled with liquid, "I will create a new world, one where my ideal humanity shall embrace the idea of a manmade universe, and remember me as the one who created their utopia- their paradise!" Taking the weapon, he walks to the nearest crystal pillar and readies it for use, putting the barrel against the smooth surface. "But for now I will be satisfied with the fulfillment of my final design; and I will have you to thank for that Nemesis!" Pushing the plunger in as the needle breaks through into the crystal, injecting the dark, murky liquid inside the cracks that formed. The crystal began to shift, as the dark blob began to spread into the core of the rock formation.

Spider webbing cracks form across the surface, as the onyx black crystal began to shift and break apart, as if the dark matter was destabilizing the entire structure of the pillar. Mason just smiled as the stained item began to become fully enveloped by the inner darkness. The crystal was not finished, though, as it suddenly began to crumble from its tip, once the inky black dyed the clear crystal. Nemesis watched as her very being was used to utterly destroy the crystal pillar, reducing it to a pile of dust before their very eyes, leaving nothing of it remaining.

"How?" Nemesis asked, "How could this be useful in your plans?" Mason merely stepped over to the pile of ash, placing a hand within it to grab a handful of the black dust that remained.

"It's perfect; pure admantine reduced to workable orichalcum without a forging process," he states, grinning from ear to ear, as he ignored her questions, "The self-replication worked exactly like I- _I_ -no... full credit, begrudgingly, goes to that genius- the Doctor!" Letting the dust fall from his hand back into the pile, he looks up to the sky and sees the outline of the new object hanging in the blackening sky. "In exactly three minutes, the last dwindling rays of the sun will finally fade, plunging the Earth into eternal darkness; they will be forced to use their lights, their matches, and surely become beacons of hope- targets for what comes next." Breaking down into an insane laugh that rivaled anything she had ever heard before, Nemesis quickly realized that perhaps the thin edge of sanity bordering between the psychotic, egotistical nature of the man before her, and the madness of the man of science he had labored years in the disguise of...

Nemesis quickly felt fear rising in her cold, dark heart.

"Open a channel to Hades," he states to no one in particular, as the automated features of the lab bring up a holographic screen before their very eyes. Upon the screen before them, Nemesis watched as the features of her younger sister, Yami, and another, familiar, blond figure.

"Master, have you finished your preparations for the grand plan?" the blond boy states, dressed in a toga, the man looked positively like something out of a Grecian play, "Hades stands ready in orbit; we may subsume their moon for processing upon receiving the raw orichalcum we need to begin, and finalize preparations for phase three." Mason grinned wickedly before opening a secondary window to contact another ship in orbit, turning his attention to it.

"You may approach the planet at your leisure, the package has been readied for retrieval," Mason states, as he speaks into the other window, "Hades will standby, until I give the order." Closing the window to the new moon, a flash of light occurred, and accompanied by the smell of ozone, a successful warp into the Shadow Vault, alerted Nemesis that a third party had entered into the room.

"Let the grand plan continue," the muscled, lightly armored form of Gid Lucione Deviluke states, as he stares across the room to Mason, before putting a closed fist to his chest and then kneels down to the floor. Nemesis gaped, as the King of the universe lowered his head to this madman, someone who conquered worlds for a pastime, could match and even defeat her, was bowing to someone who had won his victories through deceitful means.

"Rise my favored pupil," Mason states, much to Nemesis' confusion, though the reason would soon become evident, "How goes the subjection of the forces in orbit?" The man who was King looked up from his bow, and stood to attention to make his report.

"The barrier has been properly positioned around the Earth and its moon, just as was ordered; what scattered forces the Princesses have managed to have gathered have either scattered their own ashes across the sphere's inner walls, or are being swiftly dealt with by my Gireo clone forces," Gid states, his lips turning upwards as he speaks, a familiar, smug look across his face, "This world and its precious resources are yours, my master." Forcing herself to look up, she realizes that something was very wrong with Gid, as his skin appeared to be flaking, positively scaly with how dry it was, and cracked in her opinion, as he scratched at the dry patches. Though Gid seemed no worse for wear beyond this, Nemesis noticed an exposed patch of skin from where he had scratched, and the realization of what she was seeing became far more odd to her.

"A fairly interesting specimen, sir, if I do say so myself, his physical properties rival my greatest weapon," 'Gid' stated to Mason, as he absently scratched away a chunk of skin to the floor, "-though it appears the cellular breakdown is starting to destabilize the hosts body." Mason nods, before taking a vial from his pocket and handing it off to 'Gid', who quickly unseals the cork and drinks its contents greedily.

"It seems the parasitic nature of your cohabitation is, in all likelihood, killing Gid, as your far superior non-human genes are overwrite his," Mason states, almost in a disappointed tone, "Unfortunately we did not understand how weak and inflexible a species the Gireo would be to sudden genetic transposition; Devilukeans may be a more advanced-a more mammalian specimen, but they too are just as weak to sudden transpositions by themselves." But he smiles as he takes another syringe , to prepare it. "Fortunately, we have a hybridized test subject being processed for transposition right now; we will see how the body reacts to the sudden introduction of its own genetics, and then we will have a suitable vessel for our new Eve to properly inhabit," Mason states, as he plunges yet another needle into the spot he had just removed it from, "Humanity can then take its next logical step in breaking the evolutionary leap...and we will proceed with our final phase of preparations."

"Nothing can stand against us," the being in Gid's body stated, as he bowed before their master, "The Gireo shock troops obey only the commands of Shiki, master of all insectoid life, and I, as your most trusted and skilled pupil, shall follow solely the will of my master." With that he takes a case from his side and fills it with the dust of the destroyed crystal spire. A flash of light and Shiki, in Gid's body, is gone from Mason's sight.

"GAGH!" Pulling the vial from her chest, Nemesis cries out, much to Mason's pleasure.

"I am afraid your screams can't help you know, Nemesis," Mason coos out condescendingly, "The only sympathetic heart in this entire complex, is being extracted from their body, so that I can make their carcass useful for the final confrontation," Mason states, as he gives a scornful chuckle, "Shiki may believe he has me fooled, but that traitorous scorpion would sting me if I ever turned my back on him; he is drunk on the power his new form contains, and that blinds him to the truth of how perilous our situation really is-" He looks to Nemesis, as he inputs the vial into his tool. "-Don't misunderstand, I am ready for anything that comes my way- even Adam, for he too is but an imperfect replica of his original self: all full of flaws," he continues, as he takes the weapon and brings it to another crystal, "We are all susceptible to the changes and sacrifices we have made coming to your world- betrayal is no more sweeter than at the cusp of victory, after all."

Nemesis' eyes flash defiantly at the man, the pain taking away her breath as her blood and life force are drained by this madman for his plans, but he simply ignores her and pushes yet another plunger into another crystal. "Soon," Mason states, as he watches another crystal shatter to black dust, "This world will have to make a choice: join me, or die!"

XoXoxOxO  
OoOoxXxX  
XoXoxOxO

 _ **XxXxXxXxXxXoXoXoXoXo**_

 _Absolute darkness..._

 _All consuming..._

 _Then there was light,  
And then I remembered..._

 _I remembered what it once meant to be a hero, a savior...  
To be a virtuous knight on the side of light._

 _I remember who I am,  
Even if I am no longer myself, I must protect..._

 _I-I must..._

 _How could I forget her..._

 _Lala!_

 _ **OxOxOxOxOxOoOoOoOoOo**_

OxOxoXoX  
XoXoXoXo  
OOoOoOoO

 _Earth_

 _ **Billions of Years from Now**_

The stars have all but burnt themselves out, collapsed into black holes, exploded in massive supernovae, frozen in space as their nuclear hearts fizzled out and left their cold, molten husks leaking hydrogen and helium into the vast darkness.

Earth in all its vainglory, has all but burnt out, its life long since snuffed out by an inordinate number of cataclysms and natural disasters that had followed the tipping point of humanities end. Now all that was left was a single soul on the surface of a beautiful, but barren rock that was soon to be consumed by its own star.

Sol had entered its expansive phase, at last exhausting its dwindling light in choosing to gorge itself on the last bits of matter remaining in the solar system, namely its own orbiting satellites. Even here, despite billions of years having passed, it takes relatively eight minutes, based on the ancient construct of the human understanding of time, for the light to reach out and partake of the feast within its destructive reach.

Eight minutes pass the expected collapse of the hold gravity had on the red giant, once known as Sol, and it is exactly as She had feared.

The light simply ceases to exist, cast from the red bloated carcass of a star no longer. The starlight then graces her vision, perpetual bombardment by the ancient solar rays, shall now be the only source of light left to reach Her tired eyes. The moon is drained in front of her eyes, shortly after the light from the sun ceases, as its journey took just slightly longer to reach her as it did the light from the sun to cease.

" _ **Loneliness**_..." a voice in the dark edges of her imagination, whispers, " _ **We...need...light**_." She ignores their cries, having ignored them for the past five billion years, used to their incessant drivel as even the starlight begins to disappear, swallowed by the constant gloom of shadows replacing the space at the speed of darkness.

"I know, little ones, I hear your cries for help...I have sent one of your own to the Others world, to seek out that which choked yours," She states, as she puts her hand to the massive structure, that had fallen to the planet's surface over a billion years past. Feeling the pulse in the darkness around her, her hairs stand on end, as a thousand unseen hands stroke all over her body in a constant invisible molestation, her understanding of such invasion of privacy having evolved in recognition of the importance of feeling, when one lacked visual organs to see, while relying on the comfort of touch. "Your sacrifice to keep the end at bay is remarkable; your brethren have snuffed out the equivalent of a thousand nuclear engines..." she halts, as another crack appears under her hands, the ancient, living thing, groaning as the wound forced itself open, "-though perhaps the end would have been that much swifter had they not done so..." Like all the others that had come before it, thousands and thousands of imperfections, this crack leaked the light one would see when triboluminescence occurred, until it stopped just as suddenly as it began.

Once it had been thought to have been a rogue moon, a freak cosmic accident cast out from its home star, until billions of years and impossible odds caused it to collide with the Earth. But She knew better, that it was no grand cosmic 'accident', but that it had a purpose in its coming, that a mind had planned and directed its path towards the humble little planet.

 _All in the name of a 'Grand Experiment', or so he had claimed at the time..._

She broke away from her melancholy, as a few new wisps of shadows moved to caress her face, as if to comfort her. "But he was a liar, and now the Earth pays for your sins all these billion years hence..." She states, sadly putting her forehead to the newest crack, in some vain attempt to connect, to learn, what was the cause of this new source of pain, "Dear Mother, if only you could tell me what ails you; I would seek to right it, if I could, or pass it on to my Other, who sleeps inside your dreams and nightmares." Another great thundering crack, another spark of light that snuffed itself out, its reflection like lightning in her violet pools. She balled her fists at the sudden burst, anger welling up inside her. "I've tried, Mother, to be a good daughter and to live up to your expectations... tried, so very hard to warn my Other," She states, as she removes her face from the warmth of the fallen, massive object, "I promised, I - _will_ \- save all of you, but time is running out for everyone!"

" _My lady_!" a new voice rings out in the dark, a faint whisper echoed by the shadows, " _I'm...sorry_!" A pool of warmth beneath her hands, against the fallen object, and she uses her strength to draw out the familiar shade crying out beneath the cracks. As if a meteor impacted the surface of the object, the smooth surface cracks beneath her hands like a wave, rippling out in broken branches that explode with the light hidden beneath the alien surface. In that massive break a photo-negative arm reaches out from the spiraling light, is grasped by Her hands, and as She pulls the shade into the gloomy and welcoming darkness, she breathes a sigh of relief.

Hugging her tightly to her body, the blonde can't help but beam as she hugs her dearest, most treasured ally and friend. The soft glow fights back the darkness, illuminating the features of the woman for the first time in what felt like an eternity, and She smiles at the pale figure before her. Her pristine white dress was like an inverse of her Other's, a change from her original wear for sure, but a welcomed one that seemed to be an improvement over her regular choice for wear. The relief on Amane's face as she takes deep, shallow breaths, is plainly seen.

"It is alright, Amane, you have done enough by offering yourself to journey over, when no other was strong enough to make it," She states, turning to her oldest ally since coming to this world, "What news do you have of the situation on the Others side of things?" Her knight errant bows on one knee before giving her report.

"I am afraid our efforts to reach your Other seemed to have been for naught," Amane states, clutching her hands tightly as she forces the words out like they tasted of ash, "I unfortunately came too late to warn your Other-" Her face scrunches up as she remembers something else. "-though the unmistakable stench of our enemy was present on that world," she states with bitterness and hatred, "his loyal dog was there, somewhere nearby, and had separated the careless adventurers for ulterior purposes..." She nodded, allowing her to continue, as she takes this troubling news in. "I happened upon my Other in this world, unfortunately I was still disoriented, I mistook her for an enemy and proceeded to...take out my frustrations on her," she admits, a little hesitant, "She stunk of the same psychic scent of Shiki's gluttonous pet alien, and I feared they had all been infected by his tainted arts...fortunately it appeared I was wrong." Amane looks hesitatingly at her mistress, pursing her lips. "The damage was done before I could regain my senses," she states gloomily, lowering her head, "that cursed Adam had chained their newest 'Eve' to His purpose." With that, Amane ceased her report, knowing she had returned shortly afterwards to report these things to her mistress. Of all the things to expect: anger, being rebuked for her foolish hot head, were just some, but mirthful laughter from Her was the last.

"Unfortunately, I believe my foolish 'ex-boyfriend', will find it hard to tame his newest acquisition," she states confidently, "My 'sister' is far from perfect; her life mirrors mine on an even grander stage, and I rightly believe she will be far more adept at disobeying the commands of others..." Clapping her hands together, she smiles and the glow grows brighter, dispelling more of the gloom, and revealing the hidden shades, formless humanoids that wobbled and dissipated back among the shadows from her power.

"Everyone, it appears we still have much to prepare for before this world is at its end," she states, looking to the others hidden outside the reach of her light, "Mother is doing her best; she has chosen her own protector from among the Others, but we must be ready for when the walls between our worlds are at their thinnest...we must prepare to support them when the time is right!" The featureless shadows don't move, nor react, but Amane beams at her saviors words.

"Of course, mistress!" the blonde cheers, now standing before her, "We shall show the man who stole our worlds from us that we are not his playthings, or part of his 'Grand Experiment'; that he is due the retribution for sacrificing billions of lives to further his selfish goals!" She doesn't say anything further, letting Amane vent the few emotions they had left, with the joy in their lives gone along with all those they loved.

"He will get what is due Him, Amane, but I fear that the Doctor wouldn't have overlooked compatibility issues with his most current choice of host," Eve states, as she crosses her arms, "No, I very much doubt that He chose her as my replacement; no, I wouldn't have put it past him for not wasting these past ten years in perfecting an artificial host, using the resources of the world he has found himself in, to do so." Amane nods in understanding, as she watches her mistress stand to face the cracking space object, that had decimated what little of the planet had remained over a billion years past.

"The Mother of Pearl holds for now, but soon the Doctors twisted actions on the Other side will force us to make a choice," She states, as she puts a hand to feel the warmth coming from the Pearl, "A world must live, or all will die; which world will win out, though, is the question that remains to be seen." Whereas the Mother of Pearl went by another name in the Other world, here it was something that had once been an object of beauty, like a second moon in the sky above. Now it was an ugly, organic tumor on the Earth, bloated and warped into a massive disc through impact; filled with lesions and warts made of nacre, it was growing more and more erratically with each passing year. "You must hurry, the key lies in the Others hands, and I know you will solve the problem," She states, frowning as she lets her hand rest on the monolith, "There must be a solution that will save both our worlds..." She sighed, letting her white dress flow around her, not expecting an answer anytime soon.

 _XoXoXoOxOxO_

 _ **Somewhere Between Time and Space**_

Error detected...# $*&%

Instability...

circling, circling all around them

Temporal flux wave emanating from universe designate 16.02XX:000...

Counterforce deployed.

a swirling vortex of energy

Emergency Spatial/Temporal Jump mechanism activated by designate: User02

 _Emergency_!

 **DANGER!**

 **DANGER!**

Sparks and seizures, flat lines and spike hills

User02 i% critical fl&x

 _Emergency!_

 _User01 dangerously reaching fr ctyl point!,_

 _Attempting emergency exit!_

 **DANGER! HIGH FREQUENCY RADIATION DET3CTED!10%!**

01000101 01110110 01100101 00100001

 **The banging got louder**

01001001 10000000011001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110000 00100000 01101000 01101001 01101101 00100001 0001010 01010100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101111 01101111 01101100 01101001 01110011 01101000 00100000 01101101 01100001 01101110 00101110 0001010 01010010 01101001 01110100 01101111 00101110 00101110 00101110 0001010 01001100 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100001

The air is gone now. The powerful explosion that followed, the violent loss of oxygen would cause cyanosis...

01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 00101111 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01101101 01100101 00101111 00100000 01110011 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101111 01110101 01100111 01101000 00100001 0001010 01001010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101100 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101001 01101110 00101110 00101110 00101110

 _Light exploded all around them._

 _They had made it safely_

 _OoOoOxXxXxX_

 _ **The Present**_

 _The Shadow Vault_

Mason sighs, satisfied that he stood at the top of everything. Belze had taken Nemesis back to the medical wing so as to fix her up with fluids that would keep her from dying on him now, so he could collect more of her dark energy for latter usage in transforming more of the crystal spires into raw materials for their plan. But for now, two were more than enough to fulfill his current objectives. A high pitched whirring, the smell of depleted ozone once more, and Mason smiled as he saw two forms appearing before him, thinking it was Shiki returning with his son. It turned into a frown when he quickly realized that it was not his son, but Kanzaki Kousuke, the Doctor, returning, with Shiki holding his trident tipped tail to the man's throat.

"So...it appears you've survived, Doctor..." Mason states, as he puts a hand to stroke his beard, "Last I saw of you, you were attempting to stab me through the back after showing 'me' the secrets to the universe..."

"Ah, yes, and then you chose to pierce my stomach with your pet's precious spear...Gungir, wasn't it?" The Doctor retorts, smiling despite the threat of Gid's barbed tail pushing into his Adam's apple, "Though I have to admit you've done pretty well using my plans and knowledge, to further your own goals." Mason smirks, realizing that this man was really nothing compared to the same man he had faced before. "Did you ever wonder though, if you had showed me mercy, how much further you could have gone with me by your side?" the Doctor asks, which causes the most minuscule twitch in Mason's cheek, right below his right eye, "I mean you left me slowly dying, impaled on your right hands weapon, while I watched you butcher Eathes for his hand so you could take it and use his power to turn into me, stealing everything he and I knew about the future..." Mason was actually surprised that the Doctor had the gall to look calm, hiding that simmering fury just below the surface of his emotionless mask, which amused him greatly.

"Honestly, Kousuke, What could you even do against me now?" He taunts in response, "Your precious daughter and son are under my control, and whatever control you may have had over them has been mine for billions of years, by my estimations." He smirks, knowing the Doctor should be groveling before him. "My master was generous; he may have taught you how to crystallize and steal a Taoist's Power, locking away their life essence, but I am the one who accomplished what you could not with a group." It was the Doctor's turn to smirk.

"But dear Mason, in that world, you too were one of the people I had manipulated into doing my bidding," the Doctor replies simply, "But it was fortunate you had not first thought of dealing with the one man who could have stymied your plans; an opportunity I did not pass up in taking advantage of..."

/ _All the other kids with the pumped up kicks  
You'd better run, better run, out run my gun/_

 _Bang_

 _Bang_

 _Bang_

 _/All the other kids with the pumped up kicks  
You'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet./_

Ringing in his ears, Mason was more surprised by the deafening thunder of a closely shot off weapon. Looking down at his chest he didn't even have enough time to process the damage and defend himself with his own, forgotten, Taoist power, when the bullets had already ripped through his chest and made it impossible to stop the bleeding.

"A mistake with which you shall pay with your life," the Doctor states, as Number Thirteen walks over the dying man to stop before him, as Shiki removes his tail weapon from his neck, "I didn't need a big bad wannabe acting like he was the Chess master anymore... our master would have been so disappointed, Mason."

Grabbing a handful of the dust from the ground nearby, where the second spire had been shattered, the Doctor then sprinkles it over his foes corpse. "Let us see if you are as useful in death as you were once in life," he states coldly, before turning to Shiki, "Retrieve Adam from Hades; we shall make use of his ability first, before we waste it on just converting the moon."

Behind him, Mason's corpse is turned into crystal where the pieces of scattered dust have landed, leaving a malformed corpse of flesh, bone and silicate minerals. The light had all but gone out of Masons eyes, but it was quickly filled by the cloudy darkness, and swallowed by the shadows. In its place was a pair of sharp, red slits for eyes, but in a blink they too were gone.

Darkness had arrived.  
Evil had finally found its roots.  
The Earth had seen its last sunset.

A/N: I also don't own ' _Pumped Up Kicks'_ by Foster the People.

 _ **To be continued...**_

For now, I plan on next releasing a new 'What If' series, based around the various official possible futures we see Rito having with his Harem Girls. Though these stories will have a little bit of a twist to each of them. Unintentionally I seemed to have already done one of them, with my Future!Rito from the 'Back to Lala's Future' side story, and how he ends up with Momo. Now I guess I'll explore the rest of them.

.*Maniacal Laugh*

Read/Fav/Review!

* * *

 **Edit: Here are the binary translations by the way: /** Eve!/

/I ll stop him!

That foolish man.

Rito...

Let me help you!/

/You have to /help me/ save you, though!

Just let me in.../


	16. AN: Update

**A/N: Sorry, not a new chapter, but an update to the story. Apparently I forgot to upload a proper chapter 10, so it has been updated! The chapter is part three in the "The Job" side story, and actually helps the last few chapters make sense. I'd recommend it, if you were at all confused by what happened.**

 **Also, I added a poll to my profile, so take a look after you read the new Chapter 10!**


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